


The Chaos Chronicles: Book 2

by The_Rarest_Sexiest_Coinkydink



Series: The Chaos Chronicles [2]
Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who & Related Fandoms, Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Action/Adventure, Mystery, Time Travel
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-26
Updated: 2021-02-27
Packaged: 2021-03-17 19:35:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 14
Words: 113,221
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29722179
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/The_Rarest_Sexiest_Coinkydink/pseuds/The_Rarest_Sexiest_Coinkydink
Summary: Originally posted on fanfiction.net under the same name.Eris has learned a few things about herself, but there's still questions she wants answered. With a brand new version of the Doctor on her side, will she come any closer to learning the truth?
Series: The Chaos Chronicles [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2184360
Kudos: 1





	1. The Christmas Invasion

“So! 6 o’clock on a Tuesday, October 5006… And we’re on the way to Barcelona!”  
Straightening up to his new, much taller, full height, the Doctor grinned over at Rose, who had tucked herself behind a coral pillar and was watching him anxiously.   
“Now then... what do I look like? No! No, no, wait. No no no no no no no. No. Don't tell me.”  
Eris snorted as he started patting himself down, checking that his brand new body was all in order.   
“Let's see. Two legs, two arms, two hands, ooh-” He circled his right wrist a few times. “A slight weakness in the dorsal tubercle.” His hands flew up to his head, running his fingers through his hair. “Hair! I'm not bald! Oh, Oh! Big hair! Sideburns, I've got sideburns! Or really bad skin.”  
“They’re sideburns, don’t worry.” Eris rolled her eyes, settling against the console and smiling. She already had a good feeling about this one.   
“Little bit thinner. That's weird. Give me time, I'll get used to it.” Tugging at his shirt thoughtfully, the Doctor suddenly froze in place and frowned, tensing his shoulders.   
“I have got... a mole. I can feel it between my shoulder blades, there's a mole.” Rotating his shoulders a little, he relaxed, the cheerful grin reappearing. “That's all right. Love the mole. Go on then Rose, tell me. What do you think?” He spread his arms wide and turned on the spot, awaiting her opinion. 

“Who are you?” Rose couldn’t keep the shake out of her voice as she looked between the new man and Eris, bewildered by how calm her friend was.  
“I'm the Doctor.”   
“No, where is he? Where's the Doctor? What have you done to him?”  
Resting a hand on Rose’s shoulder, Eris spoke calmly. “Trust me, Rose, this is the Doctor. I promise.”  
He nodded enthusiastically, gesturing over his shoulder at the spot where he had regenerated.  
“You saw me, I changed right in front of you.”  
“I saw him sort of explode, and then you replaced him, like a... a teleport or a transmat or a body swap or something.” She was still unconvinced by his claims. “You're not fooling me.”  
Eris didn’t think she’d ever seen her dad look so forlorn before. Here he was in a brand new body, nervous and probably disorientated, and all he wanted was to know what had changed. Hearing the lack of trust in Rose’s voice must have been breaking his hearts.   
Rose continued her interrogation. “I've seen all sorts of things. Nano genes, Gelth, Slitheen…”  
The Doctor raised his eyebrows incredulously.   
“Oh, my God, are you a Slitheen?”  
“I'm not a Slitheen.” He laughed, which didn’t really make the situation any better. Rose’s voice became a shout.   
“Send him back. I'm warning you; send the Doctor back right now!”  
Stepping backwards to stand beside her dad, Eris linked her hand with one of his, trying to prove to Rose that he really was the same man.  
“Rose, believe me. I’ve seen this happen before and it's okay! He’s still the Doctor, even if he doesn’t look like it.”  
Grateful for his daughter’s input, the Doctor tried once again to explain.   
“I was dying. To save my own life I changed my body. Every single cell, but it's still me.”  
“You can't be.” Rose’s voice was little more than a whisper, tears welling in her eyes. 

Moving towards her, the Doctor tilted her chin up gently so they were making eye contact.  
“Then how could I remember this? Very first word I ever said to you. Trapped in that cellar. Surrounded by shop window dummies, such a long time ago. I took your hand-” He tangled their fingers together for emphasis, hearts leaping a little when she didn’t pull away. “I said one word, just one word, I said... ‘Run’.”  
“Doctor?”  
“Hello.”  
Stumbling away from him, overwhelmed, Rose watched as he started messing with the console.   
“And we never stopped, did we? All across the universe. Running, running, running. One time we had to hop. Do you remember? Hopping for our lives.”  
He hopped up and down on the spot, that wild grin back on his face again. Eris shook her head fondly.   
“I do! It killed my legs, I could barely walk for three days afterwards.”  
“Yeah? All that hopping? Remember hopping for your life, Rose? Yeah?! Hop? With the…” Back pressed to the coral pillar, Rose didn’t react. His enthusiasm ebbed, and he came to a standstill.   
“No?”  
Rose was frowning. “Can you change back?”  
“Do you want me to?”  
“Yeah.”  
“Oh.”  
“Can you?”  
“No.”

Disappointed, he glanced over at Eris before asking Rose the question he had hoped he would never need to ask.   
“Do you want to leave?”  
Her eyes widened; of all the things he could have said, she definitely hadn't been expecting that. “Do you want me to leave?”  
“No! But it’s your choice, if you want to go home.”  
She didn’t answer, upset.   
He nodded, directing Eris to reprogramme the controls.   
“Cancel Barcelona. Change it to London. The Powell Estate, let's aim for the 24th of December. Consider it a Christmas present.”  
The TARDIS shuddered as the direction of travel changed, lurching a little.   
“I'm going home?”  
“Up to you. Back to your mum, it's all waiting. Fish and chips, sausage and mash, beans on toast... no, hang on, it’s Christmas! Turkey! Although, having met your mother, nut loaf would be more appropriate.”  
Rose looked down to disguise the smile that had crept onto her face, but not quickly enough to hide it from her friends.   
“Was that a smile?” Eris teased, leaning over to nudge her in the ribs.   
“No.”  
The Doctor joined in, hoping that the tension between them would finally dissipate.  
“That was a smile!”  
“No it wasn't.”  
“You smiled.”  
“No I didn't.” She crossed her arms.   
“Oh, come on, all I did was change, I didn't-”  
He doubled over suddenly, leaning heavily on the console as he gagged. Rose looked between him and Eris, confused. The look of alarm on Eris’ face was particularly worrying.   
“Dad? Are you alright?”   
“I said I didn't-” He gagged again, more forcefully this time, and Eris rushed to his side to keep him upright. Before she could touch him, he retched a third time and a cloud of golden energy drifted from his mouth.   
“The change is going a bit wrong, that’s all.” The Doctor managed to choke out, breathing heavily.   
Rose didn’t like how the situation was escalating. “Look... maybe we should go back. Let's go and find Captain Jack, he'd know what to do.”  
“Gah, he's busy! He's got plenty to do rebuilding the Earth! Now, this lever here, I haven't used this one in years.”  
He flipped the lever and the TARDIS shook violently, very nearly throwing the three of them to the floor.   
“What're you doing?!”  
“Putting on a bit of speed! That's it! My beautiful ship! Come on, faster!”  
With every switch and lever that the Doctor touched, Eris followed his progress around the console and corrected them, doing her best to stabilise the ship’s rocky motions.   
“Let’s go faster! Do you wanna to break the time limit?!”  
Shoving him roughly, Eris put herself between him and the controls. “Stop it!”  
“Ah, don't be so dull... let's have a bit of fun! Let's rip through that vortex!” He sneered nastily and pushed her aside, before pitching forwards and leaning against her. His voice became calmer, and a look of terror crossed his face.   
“The regeneration is going wrong. I can't stop myself.” He grimaced. “Ah, my head…”  
“It’s alright, I’m here. We’ll figure this out.”  
The mania returned and he pushed her towards Rose, once again having full access to the controls.   
“Faster! Let's open those engines!”  
From somewhere distant, some sort of bell-like alarm clanged. It was a menacing, threatening sound that almost shivered in the air.   
Rose shuddered. “What's that?”  
“The Cloister bells! The TARDIS feels like she’s under threat.” Eris helped Rose over to one of the seats by the railing, trying to keep them both upright as the ship rocked.   
The Doctor hooted joyfully. “We're gonna crash land!”

The quiet courtyard of the Powell Estate burst into life as Jackie rushed out to the street, grinning at the familiar sound that had disturbed the peace and quiet of the afternoon. Mickey Smith hurtled around the corner at the same time, colliding with her.   
“Mickey!”  
“Jackie, it's the TARDIS!”  
“I know, I know, I heard it. She's alive, Mickey. I said so, didn't I? She's alive!”  
Mickey whirled on the spot, looking this way and that about the square to try and spot the outline of the ship fading into existence. “Just shut up a minute.”  
“Well, where is it then?”  
On cue, the air shimmered and rippled twenty metres off the ground and the TARDIS appeared, careering wildly into the side of one block of flats, then bouncing off another before crashing into a set of large bins and landing with a heavy thud.   
Exchanging anxious looks, Jackie and Mickey ran towards the ship, stopping in shock as an unfamiliar figure fell out of the doors, leaning heavily against the frame as he took in his new surroundings.   
“Here we are then, London. Earth. The Solar System. We did it. Jackie. Mickey. Blimey! No, no, no, no, hold on. Wait there. I've got something to say. There was something I had to tell you, something important. What was it? No, hold on, hold on. Hold on, shush. Shush! Oh, I know! Merry Christmas!”  
And with that, he collapsed to the pavement, looking very small and frail in his predecessor’s large leather jacket.   
Eris exited the TARDIS and crouched by her dad’s side, resting her palm against his forehead and frowning at how clammy his skin felt.   
“What happened? Is he all right?” Rose joined them, directing her question at Mickey.   
Mickey shook his head. “I don't know, he just keeled over. But who is he? Where's the Doctor?”  
“That's him, right in front of you. That's the Doctor.”  
Jackie pulled a face, looking between the Doctor and the girls in disbelief.  
“What do you mean, that's the Doctor? Doctor who?”

After a lot of difficulty lifting the Doctor - for a very slim man he was surprisingly heavy - they had managed to get him up the five flights of stairs between the ground floor and the flat and settled him in the spare bedroom. Eris had politely rebuffed Rose’s offer of help changing his clothes, and instead asked her to make a cup of tea.   
“Here we go. Tina the cleaner's got this lodger, a medical student, and she was fast asleep, so I just took it. Though I still say we should take him to hospital.” Jackie passed the stethoscope to Rose as she came back to the room, and they watched from the doorway as Eris adjusted the pillows behind the Doctor’s head, tucking the blankets around him so he’d stay warm.   
Rose sighed. “We can't. They'd lock him up. They'd dissect him. One bottle of his blood could change the future of the human race.” Sitting gently on the bed next to the Doctor, she put the stethoscope to her ears and listened to both sides of the Doctor’s chest. “Both working.”  
Eris sighed, relieved, as Jackie watched on in confusion.   
“What do you mean, both?”  
“Well, he's got two hearts.”  
“Oh, don't be stupid.”  
“He has.”  
“Anything else he's got two of?”  
“Leave him alone.”  
Eris stood, running a hand through her already messy hair, and left the room, not noticing the cold look Rose gave her as she did so. Jackie gently nudged Rose out of the doorway so she could close the door, motioning to continue their discussion elsewhere so the Doctor could have some peace and quiet to rest. 

“How can he change his face? Is that a different face or is he a different person?” Jackie asked as she set about making tea. Leaning against the counter nearest the doorway, Eris looked completely exhausted as she replied.  
“Time Lords have very long life spans, but they aren’t indestructible. When they suffer irreparable damage, the body regenerates every single cell into a brand new one. Everything changes. There’s a core element that stays fundamentally the same with every form, but other than that, face and personality change completely. He’s the same man, just in a different shape”  
Rose scoffed, struggling to keep her frustration with Eris at bay.   
“How come you know so much? It’s not like you’re a Time Lord.”   
Eris had either not noticed the ice in Rose’s tone, or was choosing to ignore it.   
“This isn’t the first time it’s happened. It just… hasn’t gone this wrong before.”  
Finishing the tea, Jackie passed two mugs to Eris. She could see that the poor girl was struggling to hold herself together.   
“There you are, sweetheart. And you take one through for your dad, ok? Tea will do him the world of good when he wakes up.”  
“Thanks, Jackie. You’re a star.” She smiled softly and headed back to the spare room.  
Rose rolled her eyes at Eris’ back as she left, and Jackie narrowed her eyes at her daughter. Whatever argument they’d had, now was not the time for Rose to be taking it out on Eris.   
“So what happens now, for you two?”  
“How should I know?” Rose snapped, and immediately regretted it. “Sorry. The thing is I thought I knew him, Mum. I thought me and him were…” She trailed off. “And then he goes and does this. I keep forgetting he's not human. The big question is - where'd you get a pair of men's pyjamas from?”  
Jackie blushed; she’d forgotten that she hadn’t quite told Rose everything about what she had missed while she’d been away. “Howard's been staying over.”  
“What, Howard from the market? How long has that been going on?”  
“A month or so. First of all, he starts delivering to the door and I thought, that's a bit odd. Next thing you know, it's a bag of oranges”  
Rose was distracted by a familiar voice coming from the television in the living room. Mickey poked his head around the doorframe, confirming her suspicions.  
“It’s Harriet Jones!”   
“Why's she on the telly?”  
They moved through to join Mickey and the three of them stood there, watching as Harriet was interviewed by a man in a suit.   
Jackie smiled. “She's Prime Minister now. I'm eighteen quid a week better off. They're calling it Britain's Golden Age. I keep on saying, ‘my Rose has met her’.”  
“Did more than that. Stopped World War Three with her. Harriet Jones.”  
The interviewer was asking about some sort of project.  
“Prime Minister, what about those calling the Guinevere One Space Probe a waste of money?”  
Harriet’s reply was sharp, as though she was offended by the statement.  
“Now, that's where you're wrong. I completely disagree if you don't mind. The Guinevere One Space Probe represents this country's limitless ambition. British workmanship sailing up there among the stars.”  
The picture switched to that of a nervous-looking man with fluffy facial hair. According to the label at the bottom of the screen, his name was Mr Llewellyn.  
“This is the spirit of Christmas, birth and rejoicing, and the dawn of a new age, and that is what we're achieving fifteen million miles away. Our very own miracle.”  
Narration from the newsreader accompanied the next image, a digital rendering of the probe that had been sent up into the vastness of space.  
“The unmanned probe Guinevere One is about to make its final descent. Photographs of the Martian Landscape should be received by midnight tonight.”

It had taken some persuasion, but Mickey had managed to convince Rose to leave the flat for a little while and join him for some last minute Christmas shopping. He had meant to extend the offer to Eris too, but a quick check in the Doctor’s room revealed that she had fallen asleep with her head on the bed next to her dad’s hand, and he decided it was kinder to leave her be.   
Out on the high street, groups of people in coats and scarves were wandering in and out of shops, most of them laden down with large bags. Clearly, everyone else was in the mood for a little extra spending. A short distance from them, a brass band dressed in Santa outfits was playing God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen in front of a large Christmas tree.   
“So what do you need? Twenty quid?”  
Rose hated having to borrow money from Mickey, but she had completely forgotten the time of year and didn’t have anything on her. “Do you mind? I'll pay you back.”  
“Call it a Christmas present.”  
“God, I'm all out of sync. You just forget about Christmas and things in the TARDIS. They don't exist. You get sort of timeless.”  
Mickey rolled his eyes. “Oh, yeah, that's fascinating, because I love hearing stories about the TARDIS. Oh, go on Rose, tell us another one because I swear I could listen to it all day. TARDIS this, TARDIS that.”  
“Shut up.”  
Doing the exact opposite, Mickey pitched his voice up to mimic her voice.  
“Oh, and one time the TARDIS landed in a big yellow garden full of balloons!”  
“I'm not like that!”  
“Oh, you so are.”  
“Mmm, must drive you mad. I'm surprised you don't give up on me.”  
Mickey linked his arm through hers. “Oh, that's the thing, isn't it? You can rely on me. I don't go around changing my face.”  
“Yeah.” A pause. “Mickey, what if he's dying?” Mickey shot her a look. “Sorry!”  
“Just let it be Christmas. Can you do that? Just for a bit. You and me and Christmas. No Doctor, no bog monsters, no life or death.”  
“Okay.”  
“Promise?”  
“Yes!”  
“Right! What are you going to get for your mum?”  
As they walked through the Christmas market, Rose could feel the hairs on her neck standing on end. Someone was watching them. Stealing a quick glance over her shoulder, she noticed the brass band from earlier following their progress through the market, their instruments away from their faces. When she turned around to look at them again, the performers held their instruments like weapons and fire spat from them, starting mass panic. Mickey pulled Rose behind a stall.   
“What the hell is that?”  
“It's us! They're after us!”   
“What's going on? What've we done? Why are they after us?”  
Rose hailed the nearest taxi and they clambered into it, relaxing into the seats as the driver pulled away from the market.   
“They're after the Doctor.” She twisted to look through the back windscreen, watching as the brass band vanished from view.   
Mickey groaned. “I can't even go shopping with you. We get attacked by a brass band. Who're you phoning?”  
“My mum.”  
Unfortunately it soon became apparent that Jackie was already on the phone, and couldn’t be reached.   
“Who were those Santa things?”  
“I don't know. But think about it. They were after us. What's important about us? Well, nothing, except the one thing we've got tucked up in bed. The Doctor.”

It took almost fifteen minutes to get back to the flat, and when they burst through the door Jackie was still on the phone to her friend.   
“Get off the phone!”  
“It's only Bev. She says hello.”  
Snatching the phone from her mum’s hand, Rose tried to keep her voice civil as she ended the call. “Bev? Yeah. Look, it'll have to wait.” She put the phone down and turned to her mum.  
“Right, it's not safe. We've got to get out. Where can we go?”  
Mickey started to dial his friend’s number. “My mate Stan, he'll put us up.”  
Rose shot him down. “That's only two streets away. What about Mo? Where's she living now?”  
Jackie shrugged, still not sure what was going on. “I don't know. Peak District.”  
“Well, we'll go to cousin Mo's then.”  
“No, it's Christmas Eve! We're not going anywhere! What're you babbling about?”  
Eris joined them in the hallway, acknowledging the frown that Rose shot at her and choosing to ignore it. “Jackie, I hate to interrupt whatever is going on out here but I have to ask, where did you get that tree? Because it’s definitely not the same one you had up earlier.”  
Mickey and Rose looked over at the aforementioned tree and realised that Eris was right; this morning, the Christmas tree had been as white as the snow they were all hoping would fall overnight and full of blue and silver baubles. Now, the tree was artificially green, and decked in golden tinsel.   
“I thought it was you.” Jackie looked at Rose.   
“How can it be me?”  
“Well, you went shopping. There was a ring at the door, and there it was!”  
“No, that wasn't me.”  
“Then who was it?”  
The conversation was interrupted by the sound of Jingle Bells playing from - impossibly - within the tree. The lights switched on, and sections of the tree began to rotate in different directions, creating a very strong wind. As if things couldn’t get any stranger, the tree then began to move towards them, destroying the coffee table in front of them as though it was made of paper. 

Eris put herself between the tree and the others as Mickey grabbed a chair to help fend it off.  
“Get out! Go, go! Get out!”  
As they headed for the front door of the flat, Rose veered off towards the spare bedroom.  
“We've got to save the Doctor.”  
“What're you doing?” Jackie hissed, glancing anxiously over her shoulder as Mickey and Eris joined them.  
“We can't just leave him.”  
Pushing the others into the bedroom, Eris closed the door behind them. “We need to buy ourselves some more time!”  
As she helped Mickey to barricade the door with a wardrobe, Rose shook the Doctor where he slept. “Doctor, wake up!” Rummaging through the pockets of the leather jacket, she found the sonic screwdriver and pressed it into his hand. She leant closer to whisper in his ear. “Help me.”  
In the same moment that the tree broke through the door and the wardrobe and came spinning into the bedroom, the Doctor sat bolt upright and directed the sonic at the tree, pressing a single button that caused it to explode.   
In the silence that followed, the Doctor swung himself out of the bed with surprising agility and frowned. “Remote control. But who's controlling it?”

Now wearing a long blue dressing gown over the pyjamas he had been given, the Doctor led the four of them out onto the balcony outside the flat, looking down at three of the Santa’s on the street below. One of them was holding up a radio controller.   
“That's them. What are they?” Mickey leant over the railing in an attempt to see them better, almost losing his balance. Eris’ hand on the collar of his shirt was the only thing keeping him from falling over the edge.   
Aiming the sonic screwdriver at the trio of Santa’s, the Doctor attempted to scan them. He had little success, as they backed away and were beamed off the street before he could get any real information.   
“They've just gone. What kind of rubbish were they? I mean, no offence, but they're not much cop if a sonic screwdriver is all it takes to scare them off.”  
Scrunching his nose, the Doctor turned around, leaning against the balcony rail. “Pilot fish.”  
“What?”   
“They were just pilot fish.” As he finished his sentence, his face contorted in pain and he dropped to the floor, vaguely aware of Eris sliding an arm behind his head so he wouldn’t hurt himself on the concrete.   
Jackie and Rose crouched in front of him, concerned. Rose reached out and grabbed his hand.  
“What's wrong?”  
He groaned. “You woke me up too soon. I'm still regenerating. I'm bursting with energy.” and he exhaled, releasing another cloud of golden energy. “You see? The pilot fish could smell it a million miles away. So they eliminate the defence, that's you lot, and they carry me off. They could run their batteries on me for a couple of - ah! My head! I'm having a neuron implosion. I need-”  
Jackie jumped in, not giving him a chance to answer as she bombarded him with questions.   
“What do you need?”  
“I need-”  
“Say it. Tell me, tell me, tell me. Painkillers?”  
“I need-”  
“Do you need aspirin? Codeine? Paracetamol? Oh, I don't know, Pepto-Bismol?”  
“I need-”  
“Liquid paraffin. Vitamin C? Vitamin D? Vitamin E?”  
“I need-”  
“Is it food? Something simple. Bowl of soup. A nice bowl of soup? Soup and a sandwich? Soup and a little ham sandwich?”  
Managing a groan, the Doctor looked her dead in the eyes. “I need you to shut up.”  
“Oh, he hasn't changed that much, has he?”   
Eris laughed, missing the glare that Rose gave her as she listened to her dad’s warning.   
“We haven't got much time. If there's pilot fish, then.... Why's there an apple in my dressing gown?” Fishing the apple out of his pocket, he stared at it as though he had never seen one before.   
“Oh, that's Howard. Sorry.”  
“He keeps apples in his dressing gown?”  
“He gets hungry.”  
“What, he gets hungry in his sleep?”  
“Sometimes.”   
The lighthearted exchange was interrupted by another cry from the Doctor, and he clutched at the side of his head. He was starting to slur his words, and it was hard for them to make out exactly what he was saying.   
“Argh! Brain collapsing. The pilot fish. The pilot fish mean that something, something… something is coming.”  
Falling still, the Doctor became unconscious again, much paler and sweatier than he had been earlier. 

Once the Doctor was back in bed, Rose took her opportunity to confront Eris. She’d had enough.  
“You know, it’s your fault he’s gone.”  
“What?” Eris was mid-yawn as she looked up at Rose, running a hand over her face. The new knowledge in her mind was overwhelming, her experience with the vortex had drained her entirely, and she hadn’t had the chance to talk to her dad about everything she had learned. It felt like the information was burning her mind from the inside out, spiralling into a million different theories that slipped out of her grasp like smoke. In short, she was exhausted, and really not in the mood to talk.   
“The Doctor. The real Doctor. He would still be here if it wasn’t for you.” Rose crossed her arms, her face twisting into a scowl.   
“He is the real Doctor, Rose. What else does he have to do to convince you?”   
“Either way, he wouldn’t have changed if you hadn’t given all that energy to him.”  
Standing, Eris moved so that she was level with Rose, and lowered her voice so that the others in the flat couldn’t hear them.   
“You really want to go there? Considering that it was you who took in the vortex in the first place? I told you not to touch the console and you didn’t listen, so if you really want to put the blame on someone here try considering the part you had to play in all of this!”   
Fuming, Eris stormed out of the spare bedroom and threw herself down on the sofa in the living room, resting her head in her hands. Jackie rubbed her back sympathetically, having heard part of the argument. Rose had got a wicked temper and a bad sense of timing, and those two things combined often caused a multitude of disagreements.   
“It's midnight. Christmas day. Any change?”  
Eris’ voice was muffled by her hands. “He's worse. Just one heart beating.”  
Having tamed her temper a little, Rose walked into the living room with Mickey just in time to hear the reporter’s update on the news.   
“Scientists in charge of Britain's mission to Mars have re-established contact with the Guinevere One space probe. They're expecting the first transmission from the planet's surface in the next few minutes.”  
Mr Llewellyn looked pleased, and far less nervous than he had been earlier. “Yes, we are. We're, we're back on schedule. We've received the signal from Guinevere One. The Mars landing would seem to be an unqualified success.”  
“But is it true that you completely lost contact earlier tonight?”  
“Yes, we had a bit of a scare. Guinevere seemed to fall off the scope, but it was just a blip. Only disappeared for a few seconds. She is fine now, absolutely fine. We're getting the first pictures transmitted live any minute now. I'd better get back to it, thanks.” 

Grabbing his laptop, Mickey flopped onto the sofa next to Eris, nudging her gently to draw her attention to the graphic he had found. “Here we go, pilot fish. Scavengers, like the Doctor said. Harmless. They're tiny. But the point is, the little fish swim alongside the big fish.”  
Rose sat down next to him and peered over his shoulder.  
“Do you mean like sharks?”  
“Great big sharks. So, what the Doctor means is, we had them, now we get that.”  
Eris sighed. “So something else is coming. Any idea how close it might be?”  
Mickey shook his head. “There's no way of telling, but the pilot fish don't swim far from their daddy.”  
A confused comment from Jackie drew their attention to the images that were being broadcast from Guinevere One. “Funny sort of rocks.”  
Eris sat up straight, alarmed. “That's not rocks.”  
On the screen was an image of four hideous red-eyed creatures with thick, ridged skulls that almost resembled that of a goat. The thing at the very front and centre of the group gurgled and growled aggressively, then the image was cut off and replaced by the face of a bewildered newsreader.   
“The face of an alien life form was transmitted live tonight on BBC1. On the 25th of December, the human race has been shown absolute proof that alien life exists. These remarkable images have been relayed right across the world.”  
Snatching Mickey’s laptop, Eris made short work of the security systems surrounding the military’s online network and hacked their scanners, pulling up a representation of the cosmos between Earth and Mars.   
“Take a look. I've got access to the military. They're tracking a spaceship. It's big, it's fast, and it's coming this way.”  
“Coming for what, though? The Doctor?” Rose directed her question at Mickey, still unable to look Eris in the eye.   
Taking the laptop back, Mickey adjusted the display to produce another image of the aliens.  
“I don't know. Maybe it's coming for all of us. Have either of you seen them before?”  
“No.”  
The aliens started to speak again, but the language sounded like utter gibberish to them all.   
Rose frowned. “I don't understand what they're saying. The TARDIS translates alien languages inside my head, all the time, wherever I am.”  
“So, why isn't it doing it now?”   
Scrawling some notes on a piece of paper, Eris stood. “The Doctor and the TARDIS are connected, like parts of a circuit. Because the regeneration went wrong, the connection between them is weaker than usual, and not everything is working properly. Sort of like when a wire gets loose in a lamp and it makes the light flicker.”   
Biting back a sneer, Rose muttered under her breath. “Show off.”   
Pretending not to have heard her, Eris walked back to the spare bedroom and pressed the note into the Doctor’s hand, before settling herself in the chair next to the bed and closing her eyes. She needed to think. 

Hours passed. Night gave way to dawn, and they still knew nothing more about the aliens that were heading towards them. All they had was the satellite tracking, and even that seemed to lag behind real-time every now and then. Rose had been standing in the doorway of the Doctor’s room for almost an hour, watching the slight rise and fall of his chest and deliberately not looking at Eris, unable to tell whether she was asleep or meditating. She became aware of Mickey standing just behind her.   
“The Doctor wouldn't do this. The old Doctor, the proper Doctor, he'd wake up. He'd save us.”  
“You really love him, don't you?” Mickey hugged her, letting her bury her face into his shoulder as she tried not to cry. 

They had been holding each other for a few minutes when a commotion from outside caught their attention. The walkway outside the flat - and indeed, the walkway outside every flat in the area - was full of people walking in the same direction, many of them being grabbed at by frightened looking family members. One of Rose’s neighbours walked past, and Rose stopped her. “Sandra?”  
“He won't listen. He's just walking. He won't stop walking! There's this sort of light thing. Jason? Stop it right now! Please, Jason, just stop.”  
It seemed like the whole estate was on the move, some of them marching as though following inaudible orders while the people who were unaffected tried to make sense of the situation.   
Mickey frowned. “What do we do?”  
“Nothing. There's no one to save us. Not anymore.”  
As they went back into the flat they were met by a grim-faced Eris.  
“You need to see this.”  
Harriet Jones was sitting in a large room at a very sizable desk, broadcasting to the nation.   
“Ladies and gentlemen, if I may take a moment during this terrible time. It's hardly the Queen's speech. I'm afraid that's been cancelled.” She turned to speak to someone off camera. “Did we ask about the royal family? Oh. They're on the roof. But, ladies and gentlemen, this crisis is unique, and I'm afraid to say, it might get much worse. I would ask you all to remain calm. But I have one request. Doctor, if you're out there, we need you. I don't know what to do. If you can hear me, Doctor. If anyone knows the Doctor, if anyone can find him, the situation has never been more desperate. Help us. Please, Doctor. Help us. God help us.”   
As the broadcast stopped, Jackie had her arms full of her daughter as she finally let herself cry.  
“He's gone. The Doctor's gone. He's left me, mum. He's left me, mum.”  
“It's all right. I'm sorry.”  
The entire block seemed to tremble and every window shattered simultaneously as the spaceship entered the atmosphere. The four of them ran to the window, avoiding the shards of glass on the floor, watching as a large rock-like ship cruised overhead, coming to a halt and blotting out the light. 

“We need to move.” Eris instinctively moved to pull Rose to safety, her heart sinking as Rose snatched her arm away from her and stalked back to the spare bedroom.   
Mickey looked between the two of them. “What are we doing?”   
Turning in the hallway, Rose started giving instructions as confidently as she could. “Mickey, we're going to carry him. Mum, get your stuff, and get some food. We're going.”  
“Where to?”  
“The TARDIS. It's the only safe place on Earth.”  
Jackie scoffed. “What are we going to do in there?”  
“Hide.”  
“Is that it?”  
“Mum, look in the sky. There's a great, big, alien invasion and I don't know what to do, all right? I've travelled with him, and I've seen all that stuff, but when I'm stuck at home, I'm useless. Now, all we can do is run and hide, and I'm sorry. Now, move. Oh, lift him up.”  
Rose spent several painfully long moments trying to block Eris from helping her and Mickey to lift the Doctor before Mickey rolled his eyes and moved aside so Eris could take the majority of his weight and help them get down the stairs. 

As they made it down to the street, Jackie lagged behind the group lifting the Doctor, struggling with six or seven bulging bags of food. Rose looked over her shoulder and, seeing how far away her mum was, groaned. “Mum, will you just leave that stuff and give us a hand?”  
“It's food! You said we need food.”  
“Just leave it!”  
Jostling and adjusting themselves in the doorway, the three of them managed to get the Doctor inside the TARDIS and lay him on the floor, Mickey closing the doors behind them.   
“No chance you could fly this thing?”  
“Not anymore, no.” Rose poked at a few of the controls absentmindedly.   
“Well, you did it before.”  
“I know, but it's sort of been wiped out of my head, like it's forbidden. Try that again and I think the Universe rips in half.”  
“Ah, better not, then. Eris, you can fly her, can’t you?”  
Eris chewed at her lip for a moment in deliberation, before shaking her head decisively.   
“I can, but it’s probably best to stay where we are for now. We don’t want to draw attention to ourselves, not when the Doctor is this vulnerable.”  
Rose didn’t even bother to hide her eye roll. “Then you’re about as useful as he is, right now.”  
Before Eris could argue back, Jackie shouldered the TARDIS door open and set half of the bags she had been carrying on the floor.   
“Right, here we go. Nice cup of tea.”   
Eris accepted the flask gratefully. Rose was less impressed.   
“Mmm, the solution to everything.”  
“Now, stop your moaning. I'll get the rest of the food.”  
As Jackie left the TARDIS to collect the rest of the food, Eris put the tea down on the floor next to the Doctor.   
“Actually, tea can be very beneficial-”  
“Oh, like anyone cares!” Rose snapped, glaring fiercely in Eris’ direction. The brunette held her hands up in mock surrender and turned away to fiddle with the scanner settings. Seeing the hurt on her face, Mickey moved to stand next to her and squeeze her hand in a show of support. He’d been on the sharp end of Rose’s tongue more than once, and knew exactly how rotten Eris would be feeling.   
“Tea. Like we're having a picnic while the world comes to an end. Very British. Now, how does this scanner thing work? If it picks up TV, maybe we could see what's going on out there. Maybe we've surrendered. What do you do to it?”  
“Let’s see if I can pick anything up.” Appreciating the gesture, Eris twisted a few dials and a strange pattern appeared.   
“Maybe it's a distress signal.”  
Rose crossed her arms. “A fat lot of good that's going to do.”  
“Are you going to be miserable all the time?” Mickey pulled a face at her.   
“Yes.”  
“You should look at it from my point of view, stuck in here with your mum's cooking.”  
As if she’d only just noticed that her mum hadn’t come back in the TARDIS, Rose sighed.  
“Where is she? I'd better give her a hand. It might start raining missiles out there.”  
“Tell her anything from a tin, that's fine.” Mickey snorted, and was very pleased to see a slight smile tugging at the corner of Eris’ mouth.   
Rose laughed as she headed for the doors. “Why don't you tell her yourself?”  
“I'm not that brave.”  
“Oh, I don't know.”  
The moment she stepped outside the TARDIS, she was grabbed by one of the creatures and pulled away from the ship. Inside, Eris and Mickey heard her scream and ran to find out what was happening, only to be restrained by two more of the aliens. Eris just about managed to close the door before they got to her, keeping her dad safe inside. 

Harriet Jones looked absolutely delighted to see them there. The young man beside her looked bewildered by her reaction to their appearance, but Harriet really couldn’t care less.  
“Eris! Rose! I've got you. My Lord. Oh, my precious thing. The Doctor, is he with you?”  
Rose shook her head grimly. “No. We're on our own.”  
In front of them, once of the aliens - clearly the one in charge - spoke in the same guttural language they had heard on the broadcast earlier. Using some sort of translation device, the young man explained what the alien was asking.   
“The yellow girl. She has the clever blue box. Therefore, the Sycorax will hear her speak for the planet.”  
Harriet gasped, moving to shield Rose. “But she can't.”  
“Yeah, I can.” Rose stepped forwards.   
Standing level with her, Eris hissed. “Don't you dare.”  
“Someone's got to be the Doctor. And it’s not like you’d do a better job.” She raised her voice and, with a few minor stumbles, gave a speech that she thought was quite intimidating. “I, er, I address the Sycorax according to Article Fifteen of the Shadow Proclamation. I command you to leave this world with all the authority of the Slitheen Parliament of Raxacoricofallapatorius, and er, the Gelth Confederacy as er, sanctioned by the Mighty Jagrafess and, oh, the Daleks! Now, leave this planet in peace! In peace.”  
As soon as the last word left her mouth, every Sycorax in the chamber burst into fits of laughter, filling the space with a raspy hissing sound. Their leader pointed a bony finger at Rose and uttered another statement that was translated by Harriet’s aide.   
“You are very, very funny. And now you're going to die.”  
Harriet, Mickey and Eris jumped to her defence but were restrained more forcefully as the leader approached Rose, his words being translated constantly.   
“Did you think you were clever with your stolen words? We are the Sycorax, we stride the darkness. Next to us you are but a wailing child. If you are the best your planet can offer as a champion-”  
“Then your world will be gutted-” Suddenly, the Sycorax became understandable.   
“Then your world will be gutted-”  
“And your people enslaved.” He was speaking English!  
Harriet and Rose’s voices overlapped. “You're talking English.”  
The Sycorax leader spat at them. “I would never dirty my tongue with your primitive bile.”  
“That's English. Can you hear English?”  
“Yeah, that's English.” Mickey agreed.   
Eris grinned, glancing over her shoulder. “Definitely English.”  
“I speak only Sycoraxic!” The leader roared, clearly trying to intimidate them into apologising for the perceived insult. But they were all far too busy working out what exactly this new change meant.   
Rose voiced her thoughts. “If I can hear English, then it's being translated. Which means it's working. Which means…”  
Everyone turned to look at the TARDIS, and as if he had been waiting for them to do just that, the Doctor opened the doors.   
“Did you miss me?” 

Standing there in his borrowed dressing gown and pyjamas, his hair spiking in every possible direction, grinning cheerfully, he was the exact opposite of intimidating. Enraged, the leader cracked his whip at the Doctor, who caught the end of it with ease and tugged it out of his hand.   
“You could have someone's eye out with that.”  
“How dare you!”   
Another of the Sycorax attempted an attack with a large club, but the Doctor simply grabbed it and snapped it across his knee.   
“You just can't get the staff. Now, you, just wait. I'm busy. Mickey, hello! And Harriet Jones MP for Flydale North. Blimey, it's like This Is Your Life. Tea! That's all I needed, a good cup of tea! Superheated infusion of free radicals and tannin. Just the thing for healing the synapses. Whoever kicked that flask over made things much better. Now, first thing's first. Be honest, how do I look?” He stood in front of Rose, completely ignoring the aliens surrounding them.   
She didn’t quite know what to say. “Er, different.”  
“Good different or bad different?”  
“Just different.”  
His face became serious, and he lowered his voice slightly. “Now, this is a very important question, okay. Am I ginger?”  
She squinted up at his hair for a second. “No, you're just sort of brown.”  
The Doctor’s expression twisted into one of comic disappointment, and his voice became a whine. “I wanted to be ginger. I've never been ginger. And you, Rose Tyler, fat lot of good you were. You gave up on me. Oh, that's rude. That's the sort of man I am now, am I? Rude. Rude and not ginger.” He turned away from her sulkily and locked eyes with Eris. His face softened.  
“Are you alright? It’s been a rough one, hasn’t it?”   
She couldn’t help but laugh. “It should be me asking you that! Nice seeing you on your feet.”  
“Thanks for the note, by the way. Helped me catch up with the bits I’d missed.”  
Harriet interrupted, looking between them in utter bewilderment. “I'm sorry. Who is this?”  
“I'm the Doctor.”  
“He's the Doctor.”  
“But what happened to my Doctor? Or is it a title that's just passed on?”  
The Doctor waved at her. “I'm him. I'm literally him. Same man, new face. Well, new everything.”  
“But you can't be.”  
“Harriet Jones, we were trapped in Downing Street and the one thing that scared you wasn't the aliens, it wasn't the war, it was the thought of your mother being on her own.”  
This was all the proof Harriet needed to believe him, and she couldn’t conceal her shock.  
“Oh, my God.”  
Used to this reaction by now, the Doctor launched into small talk. “Did you win the election?”  
“Landslide majority.”

The voice of the Sycorax leader came as a sharp reminder that they weren’t alone, and they certainly weren’t out of the woods just yet.   
“If I might interrupt.”  
“Yes, sorry. Hello, big fellow.” Shoving his hands in his dressing gown pockets, the Doctor rocked on his heels as he grinned at the other alien.   
“Who exactly are you?”  
“Well, that's the question.”  
The leader clearly didn’t find his response satisfactory, and roared. “I demand to know who you are!”  
Mimicking his voice, the Doctor replied. “I don't know! See, there's the thing. I'm the Doctor, but beyond that, I just don't know. I literally do not know who I am. It's all untested. Am I funny? Am I sarcastic? Sexy? Right old misery? Life and soul? Right handed? Left handed? A gambler? A fighter? A coward? A traitor? A liar? A nervous wreck?”   
Behind them, Eris snorted. “You’ve certainly got a bit of a gob on you!”   
“Well, that’s a start. And how am I going to react when I see this, a great big threatening button. A great big threatening button which must not be pressed under any circumstances, am I right? Let me guess. It's some sort of control matrix, hmm? Hold on, what's feeding it?”   
He bounded up the steps towards a pillar, upon which sat a large red button. Opening the base, he stuck a finger inside and cautiously brought it to his mouth.   
“And what've we got here?”  
Groaning, Eris looked mildly disgusted. “Did you have to taste it?”   
“Blood? Yeah, definitely blood. Human blood. A Positive, with just a dash of iron. Ah, but that means blood control. Blood control! Oh, I haven't seen blood control for years. You're controlling all the A Positives. Which leaves us with a great big stinking problem. Because I really don't know who I am. I don't know when to stop. So if I see a great big threatening button which should never, ever, ever be pressed, then I just want to do this.”  
He slammed his hand down on the button, ignoring the shouts of “No!” from Harriet and Rose as he did so. 

Harriet’s aide was horrified. “You killed them!”  
The Doctor shrugged, nonchalant. “What do you think, big fellow? Are they dead?”  
“We allow them to live.” The Sycorax leader looked like he was chewing a wasp as he answered the Doctor’s question.   
“Allow? You've no choice. I mean, that's all blood control is. A cheap bit of voodoo. Scares the pants off you, but that's as far as it goes. It's like hypnosis. You can hypnotise someone to walk like a chicken or sing like Elvis. You can't hypnotise them to death. Survival instinct is far too strong.”  
“Blood control was just one form of conquest. I can summon the armada and take this world by force.”  
“Well, yeah, you could, yeah, you could do that, of course you could. But why? Look at these people. These human beings. Consider their potential. From the day they arrive on the planet and blinking, step into the sun, there is more to see than can ever be seen.”  
Rose frowned, sure that she recognised the words he was saying but struggling to remember why.   
“More to do than…” He trailed off for a moment, brows furrowed. “No, hold on. Sorry, that's The Lion King. But the point still stands. Leave them alone!”  
“Or what?”   
Snatching a sword from a nearby Sycorax, the Doctor took up a defensive stance in the middle of the floor.   
“I challenge you.”  
Once again, the chamber was echoing with the sound of laughter.   
“Oh, that struck a chord. Am I right that the sanctified rules of combat still apply?”  
The leader also took a sword, and moved to stand facing his opponent.  
“You stand as this world's champion.”  
“Thank you. I've no idea who I am, but you just summed me up.” Slipping the dressing gown from his shoulders, he tossed it to Rose. “So, you accept my challenge? Or are you just a cranak pel casacree salvak?”  
Judging by the reactions of the rest of the Sycorax, this was a blatant insult, and it was the thing that made up the leader’s mind to fight.   
“For the planet?”  
“For the planet.”

From the moment their swords met, it was obvious that the Sycorax was a far more experienced swordsman than the Doctor. There were several clashes that made Rose’s heart jump into her throat, and she couldn’t stop herself from calling out.   
“ Look out!”  
Somehow, the Doctor managed to give her a snarky response while fighting for his life.  
“Oh, yeah, that helps. Wouldn't have thought of that otherwise, thanks.” He retreated along a wide tunnel with a dead end, reaching out to punch a button on the wall. “Fancy a bit of fresh air?”  
They ventured out into the daylight, followed by the group of humans and a handful of the Sycorax. The Doctor’s luck seemed to be running out as he was driven to the very edge of the ship, and things only got worse as the leader landed a hit on his nose, stunning him. Rose tried to run forward and help, only to be held back by Eris.   
“You can’t interfere! Doing so invalidates the challenge and he wins the planet.”  
Knocking the Doctor to the floor, the Sycorax leader slashed decisively and severed the Doctor’s right hand, gloating as the appendage and the sword fell to earth.   
“Ya! Sycorax!”  
The Doctor stared at the stump in shock. “You cut my hand off.” He got to his feet, a smile beginning to appear on his face. “And now I know what sort of man I am. I'm lucky. Because quite by chance I'm still within the first fifteen hours of my regeneration cycle, which means I've got just enough residual cellular energy to do this.”  
By the door, the humans watched in amazement as a brand new hand grew from the end of his wrist, looking exactly like the old hand.   
The Sycorax took a step back. “Witchcraft.”  
“Time Lord.”  
“Dad!”   
The Doctor looked over just in time to catch the sword that Eris had thrown to him, noticing the Sycorax on the floor next to her and grinning.   
“Want to know the best bit? This new hand? It's a fighting hand!”   
This time, the Doctor had the advantage right from the start, and it took very little time for him to have the Sycorax leader in the exact same position that he had been stuck in only a few moments prior.   
“I win.”  
“Then kill me.” The leader hissed.   
The Doctor hummed thoughtfully. “I'll spare your life if you'll take this Champion's command. Leave this planet, and never return. What do you say?”  
“Yes.”  
“Swear on the blood of your species.”  
“I swear.”  
“There we are, then. Thanks for that. Cheers, big fellow.”  
Leaving the alien laying on the edge of his ship, the Doctor walked back to the others, smiling appreciatively as Harriet applauded him.   
“Bravo!”  
“Ah, not bad for a man in his jim-jams.” He let Rose drape the dressing gown around his shoulders, shoving his hands in the pockets once again. “Very Arthur Dent. Now, there was a nice man. Hold on, what have I got in here? A satsuma. Ah, that friend of your mother’s. He does like his snacks doesn't he? But doesn't that just sum up Christmas? You go through all those presents and right at the end, tucked away at the bottom, there's always one stupid old satsuma. Who wants a satsuma?”  
A furious roar from behind them indicated that the Sycorax leader was back on his feet and looking for vengeance. Without a second thought, the Doctor threw the satsuma at a control panel next to the opening they had emerged from earlier, causing part of the wing to open up and sending the leader plummeting to his death.   
The light humour in his voice had vanished. “No second chances. I'm that sort of a man.” 

Standing outside the TARDIS, the Doctor gave his warning to the remaining Sycorax. They had already agreed to send them back to Earth safely. Now, he wanted one more thing.   
“By the ancient rites of combat, I forbid you to scavenge here for the rest of time. And when you go back to the stars and tell others of this planet, when you tell them of it's riches, it's people, it's potential. When you talk of the Earth, then make sure that you tell them this. It is defended!”   
A faintly shimmering field of light surrounded them all, and within the blink of an eye they were standing on the familiar streets of London once again.   
Mickey whirled on the spot, getting his bearings.   
“We're just off Bloxom Road. We're just round the corner, we did it!”  
“Wait a minute, wait a minute.” The Doctor was still watching the spaceship, and he relaxed when it flew away. They had understood his warning.   
Mickey pulled Rose up onto his back as he celebrated.   
“Go on, my son! Oh, yeah!”  
“Yeah! Don't come back!”  
“It is defended!”  
The Doctor found that his own joy at their success was dampened slightly by the distance that Eris was keeping from the rest of them as she leant against the TARDIS, clearly deep in thought. Before he could check on her, Harriet came up to him.   
“My Doctor.”  
“Prime Minister.”  
“Absolutely the same man. Are there many more out there?”  
“Oh, not just Sycorax. Hundreds of species. Thousands of them. And the human race is drawing attention to itself. Every day you're sending out probes and messages and signals. This planet's so noisy. You're getting noticed more and more. You'd better get used to it.”

“Rose!”  
Jackie stumbled around the corner, breathless. She’d been looking for them all over the estate and had just about given up when she’d heard the cheering.   
“Mum!” Rose ran to hug her, not hearing the Doctor mutter.   
“Oh, talking of trouble.”  
The two of them were talking over each other, their words blending into one big jumble.   
“Oh, my God! You did it, Rose! Oh!”  
“You did it too! It was the tea. Fixed his head.”  
Sauntering over, the Doctor turned on his most charming smile.   
“That was all I needed, cup of tea. Did just the trick.”  
Jackie nudged Rose. “I said so. Is it him, though? Is it really the Doctor?” The sight of Harriet behind the Doctor made her gasp. “Oh, my God, it's the bleeding Prime Minister!”  
Grinning, the Doctor pulled his friends into a group hug, patting the back of Mickey’s head playfully as the boy groaned. He felt Eris squeeze her way in between his and Jackie’s arms and held her close, mentally promising to have a word with her later. 

Harriet watched the touching scene with a smile, until her aide laid a hand on her arm, holding his phone out to her.   
“It's a message from Torchwood. They say they're ready.”  
Swallowing, Harriet looked between the Doctor and the ship one last time, before making her decision. “Tell them to fire.”  
Nodding, her aide relayed the message. “Fire at will.”  
From five concealed guns spread around London, five acid-green beams of light shot upwards into the sky, converging at a single point and merging to form one large ray before firing out into space. Just as the ship left the atmosphere, it was blasted into thousands of pieces. The resulting BOOM was audible down in the street.   
“What is that? What's happening?” Rose frowned up at the flare of light, confused. She, along with Mickey and Jackie, was surprised to hear the venom in the DOctor’s voice when he turned on the spot and addressed Harriet.   
“That was murder.”  
“That was defence. It's adapted from alien technology. A ship that fell to Earth ten years ago.” Even to her own ears, Harriet’s defence sounded weak at best.   
“But they were leaving.”  
“You said so yourself, Doctor, they'd go back to the stars and tell others about the Earth. I'm sorry, Doctor, but you're not here all the time. You come and go. It happened today. Mr Llewellyn and the Major, they were murdered. They died right in front of me while you were sleeping. In which case we have to defend ourselves.”  
“Britain's Golden Age.” He spat.   
“It comes with a price.”  
Stalking towards Harriet, the Doctor stopped less than a foot away from her and his voice became almost a growl.  
“I gave them the wrong warning. I should've told them to run as fast as they can, run and hide because the monsters are coming. The human race.”  
“Those are the people I represent. I did it on their behalf.”  
“Then I should have stopped you.”  
“What does that make you, Doctor? Another alien threat?”  
“Don't challenge me, Harriet Jones, because I'm a completely new man. I could bring down your Government with a single word.”  
“You're the most remarkable man I've ever met, but I don't think you're quite capable of that.” Harriet scoffed.   
The Doctor stopped for a moment, pondering. “No, you're right. Not a single word, just six.”  
“I don't think so.”  
“Six words.”  
“Stop it!”  
“Six.”   
He walked over to her aide and removed the man’s earpiece, leaning in to whisper.   
“Don't you think she looks tired?”  
Watching as he rejoined his friends and ushered them away, Harriet started to panic. When her aide refused to tell her what he had said, she tried calling after him with no success.   
“Doctor! Doctor, what did you? What was that? What did he say? What did you say, Doctor? Doctor! I'm sorry.”

After a slightly heated debate with Jackie, the Doctor had agreed to join them for Christmas dinner once he’d found something better to wear, and headed back to the TARDIS to change. It had taken him almost an hour in the wardrobe and twenty-seven different outfits, but he’d finally found a look that suited his new face. Well, he thought so anyway. Besides, it’s not like you could really go wrong with a brown pinstripe suit and brown trench coat. Maybe the Converse trainers were a little more out there, but overall he was happy with it.   
He chose his route back from the wardrobe deliberately, going the long way around so that he’d walk past Eris’ bedroom. He knew she was in there, knew that she had made excuses to the others so she could have some time to hide away on her own. The door was ajar when he reached it, but he knocked anyway. He didn't want to startle her.   
“Hey.”   
Eris looked up from her 500-year diary and looked him up and down.   
“I like this one! Much better than some of the other outfits you’ve picked.”  
“I thought you liked all of them?”   
“Yeah, well. That coat from your sixth? Awful.”  
The Doctor looked offended. “You never said!”  
“Did I need to? Everyone else knew it was hideous!” She laughed, going back to her diary.   
Realising that she was trying to distract him, he sat next to her and took the diary out of her hands, ignoring her protests.   
“Now, talk to me.”  
She sighed, closing her eyes. “I feel like I understand even less now than I did before! How can the information have been in my head the whole time without me knowing? Why would the Eternals have anything to do with me? What am I meant to do, what sort of purpose am I going to be used for? Am I just a… a pawn in someone else’s chess game?” Her voice cracked a little, and he tucked an arm around her shoulders.   
“I promise, we’ll find out. I won’t stop until we know. Okay?”   
“Okay.”  
He deliberated for a moment before asking his next question. “So what happened with Rose?”  
Eris’ face fell. “I… I said some harsh things to her.”  
“And she said much worse to you!”  
“You heard?”  
“Of course I heard, I just wanted to hear it from you. Now, listen to me. Neither of you are to blame for my regeneration, and I don’t want to hear any more talk like that. I’ll talk to Rose. You deserve an apology.”  
Shaking her head, Eris avoided eye contact. “She was right.”  
“No, she wasn’t. Now come on, any longer and Jackie will think we’ve broken our promise.”

Dinner was lovely; as much as the Doctor liked to joke about Jackie’s cooking, she had done a very good job. With the television on in the background and a light, friendly atmosphere, it would have been easy to look at the five of them and assume that they were perfectly ordinary. Mickey and Eris were in the middle of a contest to see who could fit the most Christmas cracker crowns on their head when Rose drew their attention to the news.   
“Look, it's Harriet Jones.”  
Harriet looked very uncomfortable as she was bombarded by personal questions. “Prime Minister, is it true you are no longer fit to be in position?”  
“No. Now, can we talk about other things?”  
“Is it true you're unfit for office?”  
“Look, there is nothing wrong with my health. I don't know where these stories are coming from. And a vote of no confidence is completely unjustified.”  
“Are you going to resign?”  
Jackie’s phone rang. “It's Beth. She says go and look outside.”  
Rose pulled a face. “Why?”  
“I don't know, just go outside and look. Come on, shift!”

The reason for leaving the flat became apparent as soon as they stepped outside - the ground was covered with a layer of thin white powder, and streaks of light criss-crossed the sky above them.   
“Oh, it's beautiful. What are they, meteors?”  
The Doctor shook his head. “It's the spaceship breaking up in the atmosphere. This isn't snow, it's ash.”  
Rose looked disturbed. “Okay, not so beautiful.”  
“This is a brand new planet Earth. No denying the existence of aliens now. Everyone saw it. Everything's new.”  
“And what about you? What are you going to do next?”  
“Well, back to the Tardis. Same old life.”  
Rose was nervous. What if he didn’t want her to come? “On your own?”  
He looked down at her, still not used to being several inches taller than he had been.  
“Why, don't you want to come?”  
“Well, yeah.”  
“Do you, though?”  
“Yeah!”  
His face became stern. “Then listen to me. I heard everything that happened between you and Eris. I need you to apologise to her.”  
Rose looked guilty. “Look, I know I said some horrible things, but I didn’t really mean them! I was just… upset.”  
“That’s not the point. The Game Station did worse things to Eris than it did to either of us, whether she shows it or not. And she was already blaming herself for what happened without your input. It’s been difficult for her, and she’s hurting. Please.”  
“Okay.”  
Eris joined them, reaching up to brush the ash from the Doctor’s hair. Rose seized the moment.  
“Eris, everything I said. I… I’m so sorry, I… I shouldn’t have lashed out at you like that. It wasn’t your fault, and you didn’t deserve to get hit by my temper.”  
Moving to stand next to Rose, Eris held her hand out, grinning when Rose took it. They had clearly reached a truce.   
“I’m sorry too. Me snapping back at you like that didn’t make things any better.” 

Watching her daughter and her friends staring up into the sky, Jackie harrumphed.   
“Well, I reckon you're mad, the three of you. It's like you go looking for trouble.”  
The Doctor pointed up at the stars. “Trouble's just the bits in-between. It's all waiting out there, Jackie, and it's brand new to me. All those planets, and creatures and horizons. I haven't seen them yet! Not with these eyes. And it is going to be fantastic.” He offered his right hand to Rose, snickering when she recoiled slightly.   
“That hand of yours still gives me the creeps. So, where're we going to go first?”  
“Er, that way. No, hold on. That way.”  
He pointed upwards and to the right.   
“That way?”   
Eris squinted for a second, and knocked his hand ever so slightly to the left.   
“I think we should go that way.”  
The Doctor pulled a face. “Rose, what do you think?”  
She smirked. “Two against one, Doctor.”  
“Oh, fine. That way, then. Come on.”   
And they walked back to the TARDIS, ready for the first step on a brand new adventure that was sure to be like nothing they had ever experienced before.


	2. New Earth

Having said goodbye to Mickey and her mum, Rose threw open the doors to the TARDIS with as much flair as she could manage and grinned up at the pilot.  
“So where are we going?”   
The Doctor matched her expression. “Further than we've ever gone before.”  
From the far side of the console, Eris manipulated a series of controls with a flourish, starting them on their journey. “Well, we’ll only get there if you give me a hand!”   
For once, their flight was relatively smooth, and the TARDIS had soon materialised.   
“Right. Rock, paper, scissors for who gets to go out first.”   
“Really?” Rose rolled her eyes. “You always win!”  
“No I don’t! Come on, best of three.” Eris held her hand out, ready to play.

Three rounds later, Eris stepped out of the TARDIS onto the bank of a vast river, gazing up at the multitudes of flying cars and other vessels overhead. On the other side of the river was a colossal city that appeared to be comprised entirely of skyscrapers, shining masses of silver metal under a clear blue sky. There was a cool breeze, and she wished she had picked up her jacket before leaving. As though he had read her mind, the Doctor strolled out of the TARDIS and threw the jacket at her, smirking as it hit her in the face. Rose followed him, staring in wonder at the landscape before them.   
“It's the year five billion and twenty three. We're in the galaxy M87, and this? This is New Earth.”   
Rose gaped. “That's amazing. I'll never get used to this. Never. Different ground beneath my feet, different sky. What's that smell?”  
“Apple grass!” The Doctor reached down and tore a handful of grass from the ground, rubbing it between his fingers to release the scent.   
“Apple grass.” Rose reached out to take Eris’ hands and spin her in a circle. “It's beautiful. Oh, I love this. Can I just say, travelling with you two, I love it.”  
Smiling at them, the Doctor slung an arm around each of their shoulders.  
“Me too. Come on.”

Laying his coat on the grass, the three of them sat on it and watched the cars fly by. It was surprisingly peaceful, watching the mechanical hustle and bustle of an alien city from afar. Rose leant against Eris, jumping slightly in surprise at the slight creak from her jacket.   
“Is this new?”   
“Yeah, present from the TARDIS.” The black leather biker jacket was soft, and a little too big, but it looked good with her green shirt, jeans, and leather boots.  
Rose nodded approvingly. “I like it. Reminds me of his old one.”  
Eris smiled. “That’s why she gave it to me.” When Rose looked confused, she elaborated. “She knows that I like to have things to remind me of his old faces. I’ve got something for each of them.”  
Rose couldn’t stop herself laughing at the expression of confusion on the Doctor’s face.   
“You do?” He knew she liked to borrow accessories from the wardrobe, but he hadn’t realised that she kept things.   
Tallying the items on her fingers, Eris listed everything. “There’s a monocle, a recorder, a cape, a very long scarf, a cricket bat, a cat pin, a question mark pin, and the silver pocket watch. And now, the jacket.”   
“You never met my first two. How did you know what to keep?”  
“She has pictures of you, dad. She showed me when I started travelling with you.”  
Touched, the Doctor hugged her, and the three of them settled into a peaceful silence, watching the world go by. It didn’t last long, though - the Doctor’s new form was clearly unable to keep his mouth shut for any longer than five minutes. 

“So, the year five billion, the sun expands, the Earth gets roasted. The planet is gone, all rocks and dust, but the human race lives on, spread out across the stars. Soon as the Earth burns up, oh yeah, they get all nostalgic, big revival movement, but then find this place. Same size as the Earth, same air, same orbit. Lovely. Call goes out, the humans move in.”  
Rose smiled; it was nice to know that humanity had found somewhere safe after the Earth was destroyed. “What's the city called?  
“New New York.”  
“Oh, come on.”  
“It is! It's the city of New New York. Strictly speaking, it's the fifteenth New York since the original, so that makes it New New New New New New New New New New New New New New New York. What?”  
There was an odd look on Rose’s face. “You're so different.”  
“New New Doctor.”  
Eris got to her feet, pulling Rose up with her. “Come on, you two! Let’s go exploring.”  
Rose held a hand out to help the Doctor up. “Can we go and visit New New York, so good they named it twice?”  
He pulled a face, shrugging his trench coat over his shoulders, “Well, I thought we might go there first.” and pointed towards a pair of curved skyscrapers on their side of the river. A vivid green crescent was painted on each of the buildings.   
“Why, what is it?”  
“Some sort of hospital. Green moon on the side. That's the universal symbol for hospitals. I got this. A message on the psychic paper.”  
The message scrawled on the psychic paper in blocky handwriting was brief, and to the point.   
Ward 26. Please Come  
Eris frowned, taking a closer look. “That handwriting.”  
“What about it?”   
She passed the paper back to him. “Oh, nothing. I thought I recognised it, that’s all.”  
Rose linked arms with both of them. “Hmm. And I thought we were just sight-seeing. Come on, then. Let's go and buy some grapes.”

In the five minutes it had taken them to walk from the TARDIS to the hospital, an interesting revelation had come to light, and Rose was still teasing the Doctor over it when they walked into the reception area.   
“Bit rich coming from you.”  
“I can't help it. I don't like hospitals. They give me the creeps.”  
“This one’s very smart. Not exactly the NHS.”  
The space was bright, and dotted with sleek benches in shades of soft grey. The sound of the tannoy echoed slightly against the high ceiling, which was inset with round panels that provided a warm white light to the whole area. It was, in some way, quite beautiful. The Doctor didn’t seem impressed.   
“No shop. I like the little shop.”  
Eris rolled her eyes. “You know, I’ve never understood your obsession with shops.”  
Something else was on Rose’s mind. “I thought this far in the future, they'd have cured everything.”  
“The human race moves on, but so do the viruses. It's an ongoing war.”  
A small group of nurses walked past them, their face-veils clipped to one side, revealing feline facial features. Rose couldn’t stop herself from staring.   
“They're cats.”  
The Doctor stepped in front of her, blocking them from view. “Now, don't stare. Think what you look like to them, all pink and yellow.” He gestured over her shoulder. “That's where I'd put the shop. Right there.” As she turned to look, he tugged Eris into the nearest lift.   
“Ward 26, thanks!”  
The doors closed in front of them, and they listened as Rose’s voice faded as she realised they had left. “Hold on! Hold on!”  
“Oh, too late. We’re going up.” Eris sounded apologetic, but there was a wicked smirk on her face.   
“It's all right, there's another lift.”   
The Doctor shouted through the doors. “Ward 26. And watch out for the disinfectant.”  
“Watch out for what?”  
“The disinfectant!”  
“The what?”  
“The disin-”   
Eris cut him off. “She’ll find out soon enough.” 

Whereas Eris and the Doctor’s lift was going up, Rose’s lift was going down. An announcement played over the speakers in both, warning them of the cleansing process.  
“Commence stage one disinfection.”  
A spray of icy water and disinfectant rained down on the occupants of both lifts, eliciting varying reactions. Rose jumped, shrieking as the freezing liquid soaked her from head to toe. The Doctor grinned, shaking his head like a dog and sending water flying everywhere. Eris shrugged her jacket off so her shirt could be properly washed. The next step was a puff of white powder, before a fan blew warm air at them, drying their clothes and hair almost instantaneously. Making sure that the hair at the nape of her neck was dried too, Rose realised that it actually wasn’t so bad. Her lift pinged to a halt and she stepped out into a dingy, cluttered hallway, being careful to avoid the hunks of metal littering the floor.   
“The human child is clean.” A humanoid with distinctive patterns of dark spots across his face and hands stood at the other end of the corridor, holding a hand out to her.   
Unnerved, Rose shuffled on the spot. “Er, I'm looking for Ward 26?”  
“This way, Rose Tyler.” The thing gestured for her to follow him and turned around, walking through to an adjacent room.   
Picking up a metal bar from one of the piles of rubble on the floor, Rose followed cautiously. Something didn’t feel right about this. 

On the correct floor, the Doctor and Eris were being escorted to Ward 26 by one of the veiled nurses. The Doctor was still blathering on about shops.   
“Nice place. No shop, downstairs. I'd have a shop. Not a big one. Just a shop, so people can shop.”  
The nurse accompanying them removed her face veil and clipped it to one side, shooting a disapproving look at the man as he babbled.   
“The hospital is a place of healing.”  
“A shop does some people a world of good. Not me. Other people.”  
Eris patted his elbow sympathetically. “Give up, dad. You’re not convincing anyone.”   
He sighed, and the nurse raised an eyebrow at him. “The Sisters of Plenitude take a lifelong vow to help, and to mend.”  
As they walked past an open cubicle, a smartly dressed young woman accosted them, looking affronted. “Excuse me! Members of the public may only gaze upon the Duke of Manhattan with written permission from the Senate of New New York.”  
The man in the bay was significantly obese, and every move he made was accompanied by a harsh grating sound. His skin was a mottled grey, and the Doctor couldn’t help but stare.   
“That's Petrifold Regression, right?”  
The Duke managed a faint smile. “I'm dying, sir. A lifetime of charity and abstinence, and it ends like this.”  
The young woman’s glare intensified. “Any statements made by the Duke of Manhattan may not be made public without official clearance.”  
“Frau Clovis! I'm so weak.”  
“Sister Jatt. A little privacy, please.” Hissing angrily at the nurse, Clovis tugged the curtain closed around the bed, blocking the Duke from sight.   
Sister Jatt was optimistic. “He'll be up and about in no time.”  
Considering the man’s condition, the Doctor frowned. “I doubt it. Petrifold Regression? He's turning to stone. There won't be a cure for oh, a thousand years? He might be up and about, but only as a statue.”  
“Have faith in the Sisterhood. But is there no one here you recognise? It's rather unusual to visit without knowing the patient.”  
Before the Doctor could answer, he noticed that Eris had left him with the nurse and walked to crouch down next to a very familiar face.   
“Thank you, but we’ve found who we were looking for.”

Positioned next to a large window that overlooked the city was a large, wizened face in a smoke-filled tank. It had been a long time since they had seen the Face of Boe, but he hadn’t changed at all. As Sister Jatt and the Doctor joined her in front of the tank, Eris looked over her shoulder. “Sorry, sister, but we had a friend with us. Rose Tyler. I think she’s got lost, could you ask at reception?”  
“Certainly, miss.” Sister Jatt left them with a nurse that introduced herself as Novice Hame, before apologising on her patient’s behalf.   
“I'm afraid the Face of Boe's asleep. That's all he tends to do these days. Are you friends of his?”  
The Doctor crouched next to Eris. “We met just once on Platform One. What's wrong with him?”  
“I'm so sorry. I thought you knew. The Face of Boe is dying.”  
“Of what?”  
“Old age. The one thing we can't cure. He's thousands of years old. Some people say millions, although that's impossible.”  
Eris hummed, gently resting a hand against the glass of the tank. “Nah, impossible is practically my middle name.”  
The Doctor agreed. “Yeah, we like the impossible.” He lowered his voice, trying to keep the conversation between him and their old friend. “I'm here. I look a bit different, but it's me. It's the Doctor.”

As Rose entered the room the alien had led her to, the first thing to catch her eye was an old fashioned projector showing a film reel of a lavish party. The focus of the film was a beautiful blonde woman in a glitzy dress, socialising with a group of equally rich-looking people.   
“I mean, you never know what your life is going to be like, ever. I'm bored with this drink. Anyway. Oh, hello darling! Now, don't. Stop it!”  
Rose’s heart dropped - she knew that voice. “Wait a minute, that's…” She turned on the spot to see Cassandra at the opposite end of the room, grinning smugly.   
“Peekaboo!”  
“Don't you come anywhere near me, Cassandra.”  
“Why? What do you think I'm going to do? Flap you to death?”   
She gestured at Cassandra’s assistant with the bit of metal pipe. “Yeah, but what about Gollum?”  
“Oh that's just Chip. He's my pet.”  
Chip gazed lovingly at the stretched skin in the frame. “I worship the mistress.”  
“Moisturise me, moisturise me.” Chip sprayed Cassandra from a bottle while she continued to talk about him as though he couldn’t understand what she was saying. “He's not even a proper life form. He's a force grown clone. I modelled him on my favourite pattern. But he's so faithful. Chip sees to my physical needs.”  
Gagging internally at the mental image that had just arisen, Rose grimaced. “I hope that means food. How come you're still alive?”  
“After you murdered me.” Cassandra spat.   
“That was your own fault.”  
Chip cut in. “The brain of my mistress survived. And her pretty blue eyes were salvaged from the bin.”  
Rose shook her head. “What about the skin? I saw it. You… you got ripped apart.”  
For someone who was made up of a single piece of skin, Cassandra had a surprisingly expressive face. Somehow, she looked embarrassed. “That piece of skin was taken from the front of my body. This piece is the back.”  
Rose barked out a laugh. “Right! So you're talking out of your-”  
“Ask not!”

Chip was still gazing lovingly at Cassandra. “The mistress was lucky to survive. Chip secreted m'lady into the hospital.”  
“So they don't know either of you are here?”  
“Chip steals medicine. Helps m'lady. Soothes her, strokes her.”  
Rose shuddered. “You can stop right there, Chip.”  
Cassandra sighed, full of her usual self pity. “But I'm so alone, hidden down here. The last Human in existence.”  
“Don't start that again. They've called this planet New Earth.”  
“A vegetable patch.”  
“And there's millions of Humans out there. Millions of them.”  
“Mutant stock.”  
“They evolved, Cassandra. They just evolved, like they should. You stayed still. You got yourself all pickled and preserved, and what good did it do you?”  
Staring past Rose at the projection, Cassandra seemed wistful.   
“Oh, I remember that night. Drinks for the Ambassador of Thrace. That was the last time anyone told me I was beautiful. After that it all became such hard work.”  
Rose grudgingly acknowledged that Cassandra had certainly persevered to get to where she was. “Well, you've got a knack for survival, I'll give you that.”  
Cassandra smirked, a sly note slipping into her voice.   
“But I've not been idle, Rose, tucked away underneath this hospital. I've been listening. The Sisters are hiding something.”  
“What do you mean?”  
“Oh these cats have secrets. Hush, let me whisper. Come close.”  
“You must be joking if you think I'm coming anywhere near you!” Rose scoffed and stepped backwards, jolting in shock as rings of energy surrounded her hands and feet, holding her in place. “I can't move! Cassandra, let me go! What're you doing?”  
A light switched on above her, and Cassandra sounded smug.   
“The lady's moving on. It's goodbye trampoline, and hello blondie!”  
There was a surge of energy, and the world around Rose faded into darkness. 

Rose collapsed and Chip approached cautiously. “Mistress?”  
She gasped, tentatively stretching her fingers.   
“Moisturise me. How bizarre. Arms, fingers, hair! Let me see! Let me see! Oh my God. I'm a chav!”

Balancing three cones of water between his fingers, the Doctor returned to the Face of Boe and passed a drink to Novice Hame, who nodded in thanks.  
“That's very kind. There's no need.”  
“You're the one working.”  
“There's not much to do, just maintain his smoke. And I suppose I'm company. I can hear him singing, sometimes, in my mind. Such ancient songs.”  
Eris was sitting cross-legged on the floor next to his tank, and twisted to look up at them.  
“Are we the only visitors?”  
Hame nodded. “The rest of Boe-kind became extinct long ago. He's the only one left. Legend says that the Face of Boe has watched the universe grow old. There's all sorts of superstitions around him. One story says that just before his death, the Face of Boe will impart his great secret, that he will speak those words only to one like himself.”  
The Doctor frowned. “What does that mean?”  
“It's just a story.”  
“Tell us the rest.” Eris stood, smiling. “We love a good story.”  
Hame rested a gentle hand on the top of the Face of Boe’s tank. “It's said he'll talk to wanderers. To a man without a home, and a girl searching for the truth. The lonely God and the lonelier angel.”  
Exchanging looks, both Eris and the Doctor kept quiet; they both had a suspicion that they were the people involved. 

In the basement, Cassandra was taking advantage of a cracked, blemished mirror to explore her new look. So far, she wasn’t overly impressed.   
“Look at me. From class to brass. Although, oh, curves. Oh, baby, it's like living inside a bouncy castle!” She bounced on the spot.   
“The mistress is beautiful.” Chip sounded like he was in awe - although when it came to Cassandra, he was in a permanent state of worship.   
“Absolument! Oh, but look.”  
Chip followed her gaze to see Cassandra’s life-support equipment looking fried, and her brain congealing in the glass tank below her frame.   
“Oh, the brain meat expired. My old mistress is gone.”  
“But I’m safe and sound in here.”  
“But what of the Rose child's mind?”  
“Oh, tucked away. I can just about access the surface memory. She's… Gosh, she's with the Doctor. That man, he's the Doctor. The same Doctor with a new face! That hypocrite! I must get the name of his surgeon. I could do with a little work. Although, nice rear bumper. Hmm.”  
Rose’s phone rang, and both Chip and Cassandra stared at it like it was about to bite them.   
“Oh, it seems to be ringing. Is it meant to ring?”  
“A primitive communications device.”  
Pressing the phone to her ear, Cassandra answered the call apprehensively. 

It was the Doctor. “Rose, where are you?”  
Covering the mouthpiece, Cassandra asked Chip. “How does she speak?”  
“Old Earth Cockney.” He whispered.   
She returned to the call. “Er, wotcha.”  
“Where have you been? How long does it take to get to Ward 26?”  
“I'm on my way, governor. I shall proceed up the apples and pears.”  
The Doctor didn’t notice her strange new speech pattern, far too eager to share his news to really pay attention. “You'll never guess. I'm with the Face of Boe. Remember him?”  
“Of course I do!” She floundered for a moment. “That big old… boat race.”  
Thankfully, the Doctor sounded distracted. “I'd better go. See you in a minute.” He hung up the phone.  
Knowing that Cassandra would be unable to avoid causing havoc, Chip tried his best to talk her out of it anyway. “This Doctor man is dangerous.”  
“Dangerous and clever. I might need a mind like his. The Sisterhood is up to something. Remember that Old Earth saying, never trust a Nun? Never trust a Nurse. And never trust a cat. Perfume?”  
Chip reluctantly passed over the little glass bottle of deadly perfume, and watched as Cassandra tucked it into the front of Rose’s shirt, and headed for the lifts. 

The Doctor joined Eris in front of the Duke of Manhattan’s cubicle. Miraculously, his skin was no longer stone, but was raw and pink. A young aide offered the Doctor a glass of champagne as the Duke welcomed him, grinning.   
“Didn't think I was going to make it. It's that man again! He's my good luck charm and so is his lovely friend. Come in. Don't be shy.”  
Frau Clovis looked significantly happier than she had done earlier, but was still a stickler for rules and regulations as she approached them. “Any friendship expressed by the Duke of Manhattan does not constitute a form of legal contract.”  
“Winch me up. Up! Look at me. No sign of infection.”  
“You had Petrifold Regression, right?” The Doctor couldn’t help staring, amazed.   
“‘Had’ being the operative word. Past tense. Completely cured.”  
“But that's impossible.”  
A nurse appeared at the Doctor’s elbow, smiling smugly. “Primitive species would accuse us of magic, but it's merely the tender application of science.”  
“How on Earth did you cure him?”  
“How on New Earth, you might say.”  
Eris gestured at the drip bag hanging next to the Duke’s bed. “What's in that solution?”  
“A simple remedy.”  
“But what’s it made up of?”  
The nurse’s face twisted into a slight sneer. “I'm sorry. Patient confidentiality. I don't believe we've met. My name is Matron Casp.”  
The Doctor smiled warmly, trying to get her to warm up to them. “I'm the Doctor, and this is Eris.”  
His statement seemed to have the opposite effect on Matron Casp.  
“I think you'll find that we're the doctors here.”  
Sister Jatt approached them, looking unsettled. “Matron Casp, you're needed in Intensive Care.”  
Casp only let the alarm register on her face for the briefest of moments, before schooling her expression to be neutral.  
“If you would excuse me.”  
As the two nurses hurried away, heads close as they talked quietly, Eris and the Doctor watched them leave. Something definitely wasn’t right in this hospital. 

Cassandra arrived outside Ward 26, scanning the room for the Doctor and Eris as a soft voice warbled from the tannoy above.   
“Ambient temperature stands at fourteen degrees. This temperature is designed to promote healing and well-being.”  
The Doctor spotted Rose before she saw him, and she jumped as his hand landed on her arm.   
“There you are. Come and look at this patient.” He practically dragged her towards one of the bays, which contained a man with crimson skin attached to a multitude of tubes. “Marconi's Disease. Should take years to recover. Two days. I've never seen anything like it. They've invented a cell washing cascade. It's amazing. Their medical science is way advanced. And this one.” He tugged her over to the next bay, where Eris was talking to a patient that was as white as the sheets he was tucked under.   
Thanking him for his time, Eris turned around and nodded at the Doctor.   
“You were right, Dad. Pallidome Pancrosis.”  
The Doctor explained for Rose’s sake. “Kills you in ten minutes, and he's fine. I need to find a terminal. I've got to see how they do this. Because if they've got the best medicine in the world, then why is it such a secret?”  
Cassandra shrugged lazily. “I can't Adam and Eve it.”  
He frowned at her. “What… what's with the voice?”  
“Oh, I don't know. Just larking about. New Earth, new me.” Panic flared through her; had he already realised that something was wrong?  
“Well, I can talk. New New Doctor.” He relaxed a little, and his eyes subconsciously drifted to the neckline of her shirt. Hadn’t all of the buttons been done up when they last saw her?  
Having a flash of inspiration, Cassandra edged closer, making herself as seductive as possible.  
“Mmm, aren't you just. “ She grabbed the lapels of his jacket and pulled him down to her level, kissing him hard. When she pulled away, she felt a spark of sadistic joy at the dazed expression on the Doctor’s face. “Terminal's this way.” And she walked away past the lifts, very pleased with herself.   
The moment Rose was out of earshot, Eris grabbed her dad’s arms and glared at him until the lovesick schoolboy look faded.   
“Can you concentrate please? Something’s wrong with Rose.”  
“Really?” As soon as he said it, the Doctor could have kicked himself for being so stupid. He could almost feel the eye roll Eris gave him.  
“Well, maybe if you’d kept your eyes at a respectable level, you would have noticed sooner! Now come on.”

Rose was waiting for them by a computer terminal, and didn’t notice the suspicious glances Eris was sending her as she and the Doctor looked through the hospital layout.   
“Nope, nothing odd. Surgery, post-op, nano-dentistry. No sign of a shop. They should have a shop.” The Doctor tapped his fingers against the edge of the screen, hoping that Rose would say something to incriminate herself.   
She shook her head. “No, it's missing something else. When I was downstairs, those Nurse Cat Nuns were talking about Intensive Care. Where is it?”  
“You're right. Well done.”  
“Why would they hide a whole department? It's got to be there somewhere. Search the sub-frame.”  
The Doctor raised an eyebrow slightly. “What if the sub-frame's locked?”  
Cassandra shot him a withering look - how stupid could he possibly be? The answer was obvious. “Try the installation protocol.”  
“Yeah. Of course. Sorry. Hold on.” Making a mental note of this latest piece of evidence, the Doctor flashed the sonic screwdriver at the interface and the wall slid down to reveal a dim, grimy corridor. “Intensive Care. Certainly looks intensive.”  
Eris led them into the newly exposed section of the hospital, all three of them unaware that Novice Hame was watching them. 

A wide metal walkway ran alongside the wall of a large chamber. There were walkways above and below them, and the structure was so immense that the levels faded into darkness at both ends, uncountable beyond that point. The walls were studded with green, oval shaped cells at regular intervals on each level. The Doctor approached the cell closest to them and opened the door, revealing a weak-looking man with festering skin chained in an upright position against the wall. Cassandra couldn’t hold back her gag.   
“That's disgusting. What's wrong with him?”  
Eris looked absolutely heartbroken. “I’m so sorry, I wish we could help you.”  
The Doctor was just as disturbed. “I’m sorry, I’m so sorry.” He closed the door and moved on to the next, this one holding a young woman in a very similar state to the man.   
“What disease is that?” Eris found herself unable to speak louder than a whisper, afraid of disturbing the patients.   
“All of them. Every single disease in the galaxy. They've been infected with everything.”  
Cassandra took a step back, suddenly worried about her own safety. “What about us? Are we safe?”  
“The air's sterile. Just don't touch them.” He closed the door of the cell and leant over the railing to look out at the rest of the tower, feeling sick at the thought of just how many people there must be in the building.   
“How many patients are there?”  
“They're not patients.”  
“But they're sick.”  
The Doctor spat. “They were born sick. They're meant to be sick. They exist to be sick. Lab rats. No wonder the Sisters have got a cure for everything. They've built the ultimate research laboratory. A human farm.”  
Pulling a face, Cassandra shuddered a little. “Why don't they just die?”  
“Plague carriers. The last to go.”  
Eris joined her dad at the railing, resting her forehead against his shoulder and squeezing his hand comfortingly while Cassandra watched, unbothered. 

A voice from the end of the corridor drew their attention. “It's for the greater cause.” It was the cat that had been nursing the Face of Boe upstairs.   
“Novice Hame. When you took your vows, did you agree to this?” Stepping towards her, the Doctor glared coldly at her.   
“The Sisterhood has sworn to help.”  
“What, by killing?”  
“But they're not real people. They're specially grown. They have no proper existence.”  
This was not what the Doctor wanted to hear, and he raised his voice to a shout.   
“What's the turnover, hmm? Thousand a day? Thousand the next? Thousand the next? How many thousands? For how many years? How many!”  
Hame was doing her best to justify their methods. “Mankind needed us. They came to this planet with so many illnesses. We couldn't cope. We did try. We tried everything. We tried using clone-meat and bio-cattle, but the results were too slow, so the Sisterhood grew its own flesh. That's all they are. Flesh.”  
Eris couldn’t hold her tongue any longer. “These people are alive!”  
“But think of those Humans out there, healthy and happy, because of us.”  
“If they live because of this, then life is worthless.”  
“But who are you to decide that?”  
Putting himself between Hame and his daughter, the Doctor snapped. “I'm the Doctor. And if you don't like it, if you want to take it to a higher authority, then there isn't one. It stops with me.”  
Cassandra cut in. “Just to confirm. None of the humans in the city actually know about this?”  
Hame nodded. “We thought it best not.”

The Doctor groaned. “Hold on. I can understand the bodies. I can understand your vows. One thing I can't understand. What have you done to Rose?”  
She frowned. “I don't know what you mean.”  
Eris narrowed her eyes at the nurse. “Be honest with us, Novice Hame. This is serious.”  
Keeping his voice as level as possible, the Doctor carried on. “And I'm being very, very calm. You want to be aware of that. Very, very calm. And the only reason I'm being so very, very calm is that the brain is a delicate thing. Whatever you've done to Rose's head, I want it reversed.”  
“We haven't done anything.”  
“I'm perfectly fine.”  
Rose and Novice Hame’s voices overlapped, and the Doctor turned to point an accusatory finger at Rose. “These people are dying, and Rose would care.”  
Cassandra gave in, dropping the act. “Oh, all right, clever clogs. Smarty pants. Lady-killer.”  
Concerned, Eris held a hand out to her. “What's happened to you?”  
Ignoring her, Cassandra addressed the Doctor.   
“I knew something was going on in this hospital, but I needed this body and your mind to find it out.”   
“Who are you?” The Doctor frowned.   
Cassandra leant close to him, whispering in his ear. “The last human.”  
“Cassandra?”  
“Wake up and smell the perfume.”  
Before either Eris or the Doctor could react, Cassandra dug the perfume bottle out of the front of her shirt and sprayed the contents at them both. They both passed out, collapsing to the floor. 

Eris regained consciousness first, her wrists fastened to armrests and her back pressed against the wall of the cell. She groaned, her head pounding and fuzzy. The subsequent shouting from the next cell along only made things worse.   
“Let me out! Let me out!” The Doctor had woken up mere moments after she did.   
Outside, Cassandra cackled. “Aren't you lucky there were cells spare? Standing room only, I’m afraid.”  
“You've stolen Rose's body.”  
“Over the years, I've thought of a thousand ways to kill you, Doctor. And now, that's exactly what I've got. One thousand diseases. They pump the patients with a top-up every ten minutes. You've got about three minutes left. Enjoy.”  
Struggling against the restraints, Eris called out through the door. “Just let Rose go, Cassandra.”  
“I will. As soon as I've found someone younger, and less common, then I'll junk her with the waste. Now hushabye. It's showtime.”  
Sister Jatt and Matron Casp arrived at the end of the corridor, having spoken with Novice Hame about the intrusion in Intensive Care. Sister Jatt looked suspicious.   
“Anything we can do to help?”  
“Straight to the point, Whiskers. I want money.”  
Matron Casp laughed. “The Sisterhood is a charity. We don't give money. We only accept.”   
“The humans across the water pay you a fortune, and that's exactly what I need. A one-off payment, that's all I want. Oh, and perhaps a yacht. In return for which, I shall tell the city nothing of your institutional murder. Is that a deal?”  
“I'm afraid not.”  
“I'd really advise you to think about this.”  
“Oh, there's no need. I have to decline.”  
Cassandra raised her voice. “I'll tell them, and you've no way of stopping me. You're not exactly Nuns with Guns. You're not even armed.”  
The Matron raised an arm, “Who needs arms when we have claws?” and unsheathed viciously sharp talons from her paws. 

Alarmed, Cassandra turned to Chip. “Well, nice try. Chip? Plan B.”  
Nodding, Chip pulled a lever at the end of the row of doors, and every door on the level swung open. Pulling free from the cuffs, Eris and the Doctor broke out of the cells at the same time as a horde of patients spilled into the corridor. They were disorientated, stumbling, but quickly coming to their senses.   
“What've you done?” The Doctor pulled Cassandra away from the patients, fuming.  
“Gave the system a shot of adrenaline, just to wake them up. See you!” And she legged it, followed closely by Chip as Eris and the Doctor backed away. The Doctor shouted a final warning to the nurses, unable to help because of the group of patients between them. “Don't touch them! Whatever you do, don't touch!”  
They caught up with Cassandra as she stared in horror at the other levels. Every single door was open. Thousands of patients had been released into the walkways, chanting unintelligibly.   
“Oh, my God.”  
“What the hell have you done?” He grabbed her shoulders, looking her dead in the eyes, trying to find a tiny spark of Rose in there.   
“It wasn't me.”  
Eris pulled them towards the stairs. “One touch and you get every disease in the world. If something happens to her because of you, Cassandra, you’ll wish you really had died on Platform One. We've got to go down.”  
“But there's thousands of them!”  
“Move!”  
One of the nurses had managed to switch on the automatic quarantine system, and the sounds of the tannoy echoed throughout the whole structure as their feet pounded against the stairs.  
“Repeat, this building is under quarantine. No one may leave the premises. Repeat, no one may leave the premises.”   
“Keep going! Go down!” The Doctor brought up the rear of the small group, constantly checking over his shoulder as the patients caught up with them. 

Once they reached the level of the lifts, Cassandra ran to press the call button, punching at it in anger. The Doctor pulled her away. “No, the lifts have closed down. That's the quarantine. Nothing's moving.”  
Cassandra led them towards the room that had served as her lair. The patients following them cut them off from Chip, and the Doctor debated trying to help the poor man.   
“Someone will touch him.”  
Cassandra sneered. “Leave him! He's just a clone thing. He's only got a half life. Come on!”  
As the others made it through to the next room, Chip jumped down the nearest rubbish chute. 

Cassandra’s joy at escaping was short-lived as the back door was blocked by another group of patients, and she slammed it shut again. “We're trapped! What am I going to do?”  
The Doctor stared at her, livid. “Well, for starters, you're going to leave that body. That psychograft is banned on every civilised planet. You're compressing Rose to death.”  
“But I've got nowhere to go. My original skin's dead.”  
“Not my problem. You can float as atoms in the air. Now, get out. Give her back to us.”  
“You asked for it.” She took a deep breath, and blew a pinkish cloud of energy towards the Doctor. They both wobbled on the spot; Eris darted forwards to keep Rose upright. The blonde groaned.   
“Blimey, my head. Where'd she go?”  
Before Eris could answer, the voice of the Doctor behind them made them turn to stare at him. There was a distinctly feminine inflection in his voice, and his posture was awkward.   
“Oh, my. This is different.”  
Eris’ heart dropped. “Cassandra?”  
“Goodness me, I'm a man. Yum. So many parts. And hardly used. Oh, oh, two hearts! Oh, baby, I'm beating out a samba!” His body moved in an odd sort of rhythm as Cassandra got used to the fast heartbeat.   
Rose, still leaning heavily on Eris, snarled. “Get out of him.”  
It was bizarre, watching the Doctor run his hands over his body and knowing that it was Cassandra who was feeling every muscle, every soft patch. “Ooh, he's slim, and a little bit foxy.” A manic grin spread on his face and he leant towards Rose. “You've thought so too. I've been inside your head. You've been looking. You like it.”  
Without warning, the door to the basement area broke off its hinges and the patients began to flood through. Cassandra panicked.   
“What do we do? What would he do? The Doctor, what the hell would he do?”  
Quickly examining the room, Eris spotted their way out. “Ladder. That’s our best chance of getting out in one piece.”  
Shoving both girls out of the way, Cassandra made for the ladder first, followed by Rose and then Eris. 

This had to be, Rose thought, the longest ladder in human history. They had been climbing for two, maybe three minutes, and still didn’t seem any closer to the top. Rose and the Doctor were still bickering, and Eris was sick of it.  
“If you get out of the Doctor's body, he can think of something.”  
“Yap, yap, yap. God, it was tedious inside your head. Hormone city.”  
“We're going to die if-”  
Eris cried out as claws dug into her ankle; looking down, she saw Matron Casp clinging to her.   
“Get off!”  
“All our good work! All that healing! The good name of the Sisterhood! You have destroyed everything!”  
Above, Cassandra rolled the Doctor’s eyes. “Go and play with a ball of string.”  
“Everywhere, disease. This is the human world. Sickness!”  
One of the patients reached up and got a grip on Casp’s ankle. The disease spread through the Matron’s body like wildfire and she fell, screaming, the long distance to the floor below.   
The trio started moving again and reached the top of the ladder in under a minute, bunched up at the top trying to open the hatch.  
Cassandra whined. “Now what do we do?”  
“Use the sonic screwdriver.” It was getting to the point that Rose was ready to punch the Doctor in the face, in the hopes that it might get Cassandra to shut up for one blissful moment.  
“You mean this thing?” With a finger and thumb, the Doctor held up the sonic screwdriver and pulled a face like it was going to bite him.  
“Yes, I mean that thing.”  
“Well, I don't know how. That Doctor's hidden away all his thoughts.”  
Very aware that the patients were catching up with them, Eris called upwards.   
“Cassandra, go into me. Then my dad can open it and we can get out of here.”  
Cassandra took a brief moment to think. “Well, it’s better than chavtastic blondie, I suppose. Hold on tight!”  
Like before, the energy transfer made both involved wobble, which was especially worrying to Rose given that they were still several hundred feet in the air and clinging to a ladder. The Doctor steadied himself, before leaning down to reach for Eris.  
“Are you alright?”  
“Gosh, it’s a mess in here!” Cassandra whined, “How does she function with all this information cluttering the place?”   
“Get out of her, now.”  
“Open the door.”  
“Not till you get out of her!”   
Rose interrupted the argument. “Look, the longer we hang here fighting the more likely they are to catch up with us. Open the door, and we can sort this out when we’re back on solid ground.”   
Groaning in resignation, the Doctor opened the lift doors and helped Rose and Eris through, closing the doors behind them. Eris slumped against the wall, breathing heavily.   
“Her mind…”  
Kneeling, the Doctor rested his hands on her face and made her look him in the eye.  
“Cassandra, you’re compressing her, you’re hurting her! Let her go, now.”  
“It’s so vast… her thoughts, her memories. Her future.”  
His expression softened slightly. “What do you mean?”   
“I can see eternity. In her mind, just… eternity.”  
Rose started to ask what she meant, but Eris shook and Cassandra left her body, flowing back into Rose. Cassandra stayed upright more easily this time, already used to being inside of her. The Doctor helped Eris off the floor, keeping an arm around her back as he led both girls to Ward 26. 

Their entry to Ward 26 was less than easy, as Frau Clovis tried to lunge at them with a large metal drip-pole, snarling. Shielding the girls, the Doctor held his hands out in surrender.   
“We're safe! We're safe! We're safe! We're clean! We're clean! Look, look.”  
“Show me your skin.” She hissed.  
The three of them did so, showing her their arms and hands.   
“Look, clean. Look, if we'd been touched, we'd be dead. So how's it going up here? What's the status?”  
Frau Clovis shook her head, holding up a small silver communication device.   
“There's nothing but silence from the other wards. I think we're the only ones left. And I've been trying to override the quarantine. If I can trip a signal over to New New York, they can send a private executive squad.”  
Clearing her throat, Eris got their attention. “You can't do that. If they forced entry, they'd break quarantine.”  
“I am not dying in here!”  
The Doctor gestured angrily at the metropolis on the other side of the river. “We can't let a single particle of disease get out. There are ten million people in that city. They'd all be at risk. Now, turn that off!”  
“Not if it gets me out.”  
“All right, fine. So I have to stop you lot as well. Suits me. Eris, Rose, Novice Hame, everyone! Excuse me, your Grace, but I need your help as well. Get me intravenous solutions for every single disease. Move it!”  
The patients and staff followed his orders, coming back to him with armfuls of bags of coloured liquids and stringing them onto a thick silk rope that Eris was in the process of tying around his torso.   
“How's that? Will that do?” He looked down at his daughter, glad to see that she seemed less dazed than earlier.   
“Yeah, looks good.”  
Next to them, Cassandra looked confused. “I don't know. Will it do for what?”

Instead of a proper explanation, the Doctor led them back to the lifts and started working on the doors, watching Eris slide another rope through the belt loops on her jeans. He got the doors open, and Cassandra gasped as he made a running jump and clung to the lift cable, attaching a circular piece of metal to it.   
“What do you think you're doing?” Cassandra was torn, looking between the Doctor where he was hanging to the cable and Eris as she tied the other end of her rope to a piece of metal inside the lift.   
He held a hand out to her. “I'm going down! Come on!”  
“Not in a million years.”  
“I’m gonna need another pair of hands. What do you think? If you're so desperate to stay alive, why don't you live a little?”  
“Why can’t I stay up here with Eris?”   
The brunette snorted in response. “I’m going down too, nice try.”  
“Well, there’s no way that cable will hold all three of us so I’ll stay here, thanks.”  
“I’m not using the cable, I’m abseiling.”  
“What?!”  
“It’s not difficult. Now come on Cassandra, we don’t have long.”  
The door that they had come through earlier was thrown open and the patients spilled into the corridor. Frau Clovis cut off Cassandra’s only escape route as she sealed the door to the ward, leaving her with no other option but to jump onto the cable, wrapping her arms around the Doctor.   
“You're completely mad. I can see why she likes you.”  
“Going down!”  
With a few adjustments to the metal, the improvised wheel attached to the cable sent them hurtling towards the bottom of the lift shaft, their surroundings becoming blurred as they moved faster and faster, landing on the roof of the lift in under a minute. Rose’s knees buckled as the two of them collided with the floor.   
“Well, that's one way to lose weight.” She looked up at the distance they had travelled, and was surprised to see how close Eris was to them. “How did you catch up?”   
Eris’ landing was far more graceful than hers had been. “Years of cliff-climbing practice and speedy getaways.”  
The Doctor threw the sonic at Eris, giving Rose her next instructions. “Now, listen. When I say so, take hold of that lever.”  
“But that opens the lift! There's still a quarantine down there, we can't-”  
“Hold that lever! I'm cooking up a cocktail. I know a bit about medicine myself.” The lift’s disinfectant tank was empty, and he started ripping the medicine bags open with his teeth and pouring the contents into the cylinder. Eris took the ones from his back, emptying them into the smoking potion that was forming. Shrugging his trench coat from his shoulders, he wrapped it around the lever and pressed Cassandra’s hands to it.   
“Now, that lever's going to resist, and it’ll probably get hot. But keep it in position. Hold onto it with everything you've got.”  
“What about you?”  
“I've got an appointment. The Doctor is in.”  
Eris sonicked the hatch in the roof open and he dropped through it, holding his hand out for the screwdriver once he was inside.

As soon as Eris’ boots hit the floor of the lift, the Doctor opened the doors, drawing the attention of the gaggle of diseased patients in the atrium.   
“I'm in here! Come on!” He spread his arms wide, welcoming them in. “Come and get me. Come on!”  
Unable to stop herself, Eris joined in. “We’re in here! Come on!”  
As the patients started to file into the lift, the disinfection procedures activated and the cocktail of medications began to rain down on them all.   
“Pass it on!”  
In the instant that the medicine touched the patients’ skin, it hissed and steamed before leaving the skin clear and healthy. The cured humans filtered through the crowd of their diseased comrades, allowing them to experience the touch of another being for the very first time and curing them of their ills all in one fell swoop.   
Cassandra swung Rose’s legs through the hatch and got ready to join the others in the lift, accepting Eris’ offer of help and letting her wrap her arms around her waist.   
“What did they pass on? Did you kill them? All of them?”  
The Doctor smiled at her, pointing her towards the people milling around. “No. That's your way of doing things.” All three of them walked out of the lift, Cassandra hiding behind the others.   
“I'm the Doctor, and I cured them.”  
In front of them, every single patient that had been released was standing there, soaked to the bones but fresh-faced and healthy. An anxious young woman approached them, faltering a little before Eris hugged her close, cooing softly to her to help her relax. Her dad watched, smiling.  
“It's a new sub-species, Cassandra. A brand new form of life. New humans! Look at them. Look! Grown by cats, kept in the dark, fed by tubes, but completely, completely alive. You can't deny them, because you helped create them. The human race just keeps on going, keeps on changing. Life will out! Ha!”

Still slightly damp from the lifts, the group returned to Ward 26 while teams from the New New York Police Department dealt with the nurses. An announcement over the tannoy, “All staff will present themselves to the officers for immediate arrest. I repeat, immediate arrest. All new life forms will be catalogued and taken into care. All visitors to the hospital will be required to make a statement to the NNYPD.” reminded the Doctor of their original reason for visiting.   
“The Face of Boe!”  
He was the last patient remaining, and they ran to see him. He was awake, watching the events surrounding him serenely.   
“You were supposed to be dying.”  
The Face of Boe’s voice echoed through all of their minds. “There are better things to do today. Dying can wait.”  
Cassandra whined. “Oh, I hate telepathy. Just what I need, a head full of big-face.”  
“Shut up!” Eris hissed, sick of the constant whinging.   
The Face continued as though there had been no interruption. “I have grown tired with the universe, Doctor, but you have taught me to look at it anew.”  
“There are legends, you know, saying that you're millions of years old.”  
“There are? That would be impossible.”   
Eris laughed quietly. “Impossible is right up our street.”  
The Doctor got back to the conversation. “I got the impression there was something you wanted to tell me.”  
“A great secret.”  
“So the legend says.”  
“It can wait.”  
“Oh, does it have to?” He groaned.   
“We shall meet again, Doctor, for the third time, for the last time, and the truth shall be told. Until that day…” A blue light field appeared around his tank and he faded out of sight, leaving an empty space behind. 

Running a hand through his hair, the Doctor turned to grin in awe at Eris. “That is enigmatic. That, that is, that is textbook enigmatic.” His smile faded as he looked at Rose. “And now for you.”  
“But everything's happy. Everything's fine. Can't you just leave me?” Cassandra shrugged.   
“You've lived long enough. Leave that body and end it, Cassandra.”  
“I don't want to die.”  
Eris laid a comforting hand on Rose’s arm. “No one does. It’s okay to be afraid.”  
“Help me!”  
“I’m sorry. There’s nothing we can do.”  
A familiar voice came from the entrance of the ward. “Mistress!”  
All three of them turned, incredulous. Miraculously, Chip was hobbling towards them, smiling widely at Rose. His blue cap was crooked on his head.   
“Oh, you're alive.” Cassandra sounded thoughtful, and Eris didn’t trust it.   
“I kept myself safe for you, mistress.”  
“A body. And not just that, a volunteer.”  
The Doctor pointed a warning finger at her. “Don't you dare. He's got a life of his own.”  
Chip looked at her lovingly. “But I worship the mistress. I welcome her.”  
Before either of them could protest any further, Cassandra transferred herself from Rose to Chip. This time, it was Eris who steadied Rose, brushing her blonde hair away from her eyes.   
“Hey there.”  
“Hi.” She tried to stand on her own and failed, blushing a little as Eris tightened her grip on her waist.   
The Doctor grinned at her. “Welcome back.”  
“Oh, sweet Lord. I'm a walking doodle.” Cassandra was staring apathetically at the markings on her assistant’s skin with his own eyes.   
“You can't stay in there. I'm sorry, Cassandra, but that's not fair. I can take you to the city. They can build you a skin tank and you can stand trial for what you've done.”  
“Well, that would be rather dramatic. Possibly my finest hour, and certainly my finest hat, but I'm afraid we don't have time. Poor little Chip is only a half-life, and he's been through so much. His heart is racing so fast. He's failing. I don't think he's going to last…”  
And Chip dropped to his knees, clutching at his chest.   
“Are you all right?”  
“I'm fine. I'm dying, but that's fine.”  
“I can take you to the city.”  
Chip shook his head. “No, you won't. Everything's new on this planet. There's no place for Chip and me any more. You're right, Doctor. It's time to die, and that's good.”  
“Come on. There's one last thing I can do.”

Their subsequent trip in the TARDIS was quick, and relatively smooth. Once Cassandra had given them the right details, Rose had spent the journey supporting Chip’s weak form while Eris and the Doctor ensured they had landed in the correct place. Upon opening the doors, they could see the lavish party that Cassandra had been watching the footage of earlier, and saw Cassandra herself socializing in a large group of people.   
“Thank you.” Chip had been given a large, hooded black cloak from the wardrobe, partially to cover his distinctive skin and mostly to stop onlookers from seeing him shake.   
“Just go. And don't look back.”  
The three of them watched him approach the stunningly human form of Cassandra, and decided that she deserved some privacy in her last moments, filing back into the TARDIS. 

Rose grabbed the Doctor’s hand, a frown creasing her forehead. He looked down at her, concerned.  
“You alright?”  
“What Cassandra said earlier, about Eris. That whole… eternity in her mind, thing. What was that all about?”   
He watched Eris leave the console room before answering Rose’s question.  
“Back on Satellite Five, when she took the vortex from you. It unlocked a part of her that has, supposedly, been there since she was born. A part that was left behind by the people who made her.”   
She didn’t understand. “Made her?”   
“According to the… well, the fragment of her creators that was left behind, Eris was created by a race of beings called the Eternals. They’re higher powers, almost godlike, in a way. She was designed for a reason, but we still don’t know what it is.”  
“How’s she feeling about it?”  
“Not great. I-”  
The conversation ended when Eris returned to the console room, beaming down at her friends from the upper walkway.   
“So! Where to next?”   
“Somewhere fun. Any ideas?”  
“Oh yeah. Tons. Where do you wanna start?”


	3. Tooth and Claw

Mini denim dungarees and a pastel pink t-shirt - not Rose’s usual choice of attire, but it certainly wasn’t bad. She’d worn far less fashionable things as a kid; it was usually clothes that her mum had chosen for her, and Jackie Tyler wasn’t usually known for her fashion sense. Walking into the console room, she held a few poses like she was on a catwalk to show off to her friends.   
“What do you think of this? Will it do?”  
Eris looked her up and down approvingly. “I like it. Suits you.”   
Rose felt her cheeks heat up a little, and turned to see what the Doctor’s thoughts were. As always, he was slightly more blunt.   
“In the late 1970s? You'd be better off in a bin bag. Hold on, listen to this.” Sliding a CD into the right slot in the TARDIS, the Doctor couldn’t resist dancing to the beat of the punk track that started playing. “Ian Dury and the Blockheads. Number One in 1979.”  
“You're a punk!” Rose laughed, watching him prance around the console like a madman, hand in hand with Eris, singing along to the music. “That's what you are. A big old punk with a bit of rockabilly thrown in.”  
“Let’s go and see him.” Eris pulled her over to join them, already planning the best way to make the most of the evening out.   
“How'd you mean? In concert?”  
The Doctor beamed. “What else is a Tardis for? I can take you to the Battle of Trafalgar, the first anti-gravity Olympics, Caesar crossing the Rubicon or Ian Dury at the Top Rank, Sheffield, England, Earth, 21st November, 1979. What do you think?”  
“Sheffield it is.”  
“Hold on tight!”   
Changing the destination mid-flight was never a good idea, as it always made the ride so much bumpier than it had been originally. As the whole room pitched, the Doctor snatched a small mallet from underneath the console and started whacking the controls on beat with the song - he landed a few good hits before Eris tore the hammer from his grip and tossed it over her shoulder.  
“Stop hitting her! It’s not helping!”  
A sudden stop, and all three of them hit the floor, giggling at each other like idiots.   
“1979. Hell of a year.” Getting to his feet, the Doctor hauled the girls upright. “China invades Vietnam. The Muppet Movie! Love that film. Margaret Thatcher… urgh. Skylab falls to Earth, with a little help from me. Nearly took off my thumb.”  
He threw the TARDIS doors open, still babbling on even as Eris smacked his arm, trying to get his attention.   
“And I like my thumb. I need my thumb. I'm very attached to… my thumb.”  
The sound of a rifle cocking finally made him aware that their landing hadn’t exactly gone to plan. A platoon of Redcoats, two of them on large horses, surrounded the TARDIS.   
“1879. Same difference.”

The leader of the group glowered down at them. “You will explain your presence. And the nakedness of these girls.”   
Eris had been about to protest - jeans and a t-shirt hardly qualified as nudity - when the man’s accent registered in her mind. The Doctor had come to the same realisation, and slipped into it with ease.   
“Are we in Scotland?”  
“How can you be ignorant of that?” The Captain frowned at him, clearly assuming that he was some kind of idiot.   
“Oh, I'm… I'm dazed and confused. I've been chasing this, this wee naked child over hill and over dale. My daughter’s been helping, it’s mostly her fault that we’re stuck with this wild one in the first place. Isn't that right, darlin’?”  
Nodding respectfully at the Captain, Eris did her best to look contrite whilst also conveying her irritation to her dad. “Indeed, sir. We’ve had a right hard time trying to keep her under control. She’s a real timorous beastie, you understand.”  
Very impressed by how well her friends had managed to make themselves sound like they were native Scots, Rose couldn’t help but want to join in.   
“Och, aye! I've been oot and aboot.”  
The Doctor winced as Rose tried to cram as many Scottish stereotypes as she could into one sentence. “No, don't do that.”  
“Hoots mon?”  
Eris shook her head. “No, really don't. Really.”  
Reynolds grew impatient with their chatter. “Will you identify yourselves, sir?”

The Doctor gestured to his jacket pocket as he introduced himself. “I'm Doctor James McCrimmon, from the township of Balamory. I have my credentials, if I may.” When the Captain nodded, he handed over the psychic paper for inspection. “And this is my daughter Eris. As you can see, a Doctorate from the University of Edinburgh. I trained under Doctor Bell himself.”   
As Reynolds scrutinised the psychic paper, the voice of an upper-class English woman came from the carriage that the guards were shielding.   
“Let them approach.”  
Reynolds tensed. “I don't think that's wise, ma'am.”  
“Let them approach.” The woman was adamant, and the Captain hesitated for a moment before conceding.   
“You will approach the carriage, and show all due deference.”  
As the three of them approached the carriage, Rose walking slightly behind her friends, a soldier opened the door, revealing a short woman dressed in all black. Rose felt her heart stop for a second - of all the people that could have been sat there…   
The Doctor smirked a little at the look on her face, and bowed respectfully to the seated woman.   
“Eris, Rose, might I introduce her Majesty Queen Victoria. Empress of India and Defender of the Faith.”  
Rose dropped into a shaky curtsey that was no match for Eris’ smooth dip, and tried to keep the stutter off her lips as she introduced herself.   
“Rose Tyler, Ma'am. And my apologies for being so naked.”  
Queen Victoria waved a hand dismissively. “I've had five daughters. It's nothing to me.” Her eyes darted to Eris, and she looked her up and down briefly. “That is the McCrimmon family tartan, is it not?”   
Swallowing the lump that had risen in her throat, Eris smoothed out a crease in her red tartan jeans and smiled politely.   
“Indeed it is, ma’am. My great-grandfather adored these colours, and wore them with pride. It is an honour to do the same.”   
“And you, Doctor. Show me these credentials.” The Queen’s eyebrows shot up as she read the looping script on the paper. “Why didn't you say so immediately? It states clearly here that you have been appointed by the Lord Provost as my Protector.”  
The Doctor did his best to recover quickly from the momentary shock.   
“Does it? Yes, it does. Good. Good. Then let me ask - why is Your Majesty travelling by road when there's a train all the way to Aberdeen?”

“A tree on the line.” There was a hint of acid in Victoria’s tone.   
“An accident?”  
“I am the Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. Everything around me tends to be planned.”  
“An assassination attempt?”  
Rose gasped a little. “What, seriously? There's people out to kill you?”  
The Queen seemed unfased. “I'm quite used to staring down the barrel of a gun.”  
Captain Reynolds joined them, still eyeing the Doctor distrustfully.   
“Sir Robert MacLeish lives but two miles hence. We've sent word ahead. He'll shelter us for tonight, then we can reach Balmoral tomorrow.”  
“This Doctor, his daughter and their timorous beastie will come with us.”  
Reynolds looked reluctant, but had no power to counteract the Queen’s invitation.  
“Yes, Ma'am. We'd better get moving - it's almost nightfall.”  
“Indeed. And there are stories of wolves in these parts. Fanciful tales intended to scare the children. But good for the blood, I think. Drive on!”  
The footman closed the carriage door and it set off at a steady pace, and the Captain indicated that the Queen’s newest guests should follow behind it. 

“It's funny though, because you say assassination and you just think of Kennedy and stuff. Not her.” Rose mused, staring at the back of the carriage as though it would disappear before their eyes.   
The Doctor counted on his fingers quickly. “1879? She's had, oh, six attempts on her life? And I'll tell you something else. We just met Queen Victoria!”  
“I know!”  
“What a laugh!”  
“She was just sitting there.”  
“Like a stamp.”  
Rose giggled. “I want her to say we are not amused. I bet you five quid I can make her say it.”  
“Well, if I gambled on that, it'd be an abuse of my privileges of travelling in time.”  
“Ten quid?”  
“Done.”  
As Rose laughed at his eagerness to accept the bet, the Doctor took note of how quiet Eris had been for the last few minutes. He tapped her wrist softly, getting her attention.   
“You okay?”   
“Yeah.” She chewed at her lip. “Thank you.”   
“What for?”   
“The nod to Jamie. I still miss him”   
Rose interrupted. “Right, how come your accent is that good?”  
Eris snorted. “I lived in the Shetland Islands for seventeen years.”  
“No way!”   
“Yep. I wanted somewhere quieter after all the noise of Belfast, and the Islands seemed like the perfect place.” 

It took them around half an hour to reach the house, most of which they spent cracking jokes and quietly making fun of the soldiers’ uniforms. A short, nervous looking man was ready to greet them in the yard, surrounded by a posse of indoor servants. The carriage door was opened again, and the man bowed deeply.   
“Your Majesty.”  
The Queen exited the carriage, admiring the house. “Sir Robert. My apologies for the emergency. And how is Lady Isobel?”  
Sir Robert was doing a terrible job of hiding the shake in his voice. “She's indisposed, I'm afraid. She's gone to Edinburgh for the season. And she's taken the cook with her. The kitchens are barely stocked. I wouldn't blame Your Majesty if you wanted to ride on.”  
“Oh, not at all. I've had quite enough carriage exercise. And this is charming, if rustic. It's my first visit to this house. My late husband spoke of it often. The Torchwood Estate. Now, shall we go inside? And please excuse the naked girl.”  
Rose grinned sheepishly. “Sorry.”  
The Doctor tutted. “She's a feral child. We bought her for sixpence in old London Town. It was her or the Elephant Man, so…”  
“Thinks he's funny but I'm so not amused. What do you think, Ma'am?” Rose was quite proud of herself for the attempt, but it didn’t succeed.   
“It hardly matters. Shall we proceed?” And without waiting for a response, the Queen walked into the house. 

Sir Robert took the role of tour guide rather reluctantly, escorting the Queen, the Captain and the Doctor’s group around his home. When they came to the observatory, the sheer beauty of the place defied words. The Queen was the first person to speak, breaking the spell that the room held.   
“This, I take it, is the famous Endeavour.”   
The piece she was referring to - a colossal bronze telescope mounted in the centre of the room, resting on a base of intricate metalwork and cogs - greatly impressed the Doctor, and before Sir Robert could begin to respond to the Queen’s statement he had broken away from the group to examine it more closely.   
“All my father's work. Built by hand in his final years. Became something of an obsession. He spent his money on this rather than caring for the house or himself.”  
“I wish I'd met him. I like him. It’s beautiful, what did he model it on?”  
Sir Robert looked a little embarrassed. “I know nothing about it. To be honest, most of us thought him a little, shall we say, eccentric. I wish now I'd spent more time with him and listened to his stories.”  
Eris and Rose joined the Doctor at the telescope; Rose admired the delicate designs on the side while her friends fussed over the internal workings. Forgetting their company, the Doctor launched into a list of criticisms.   
“It's a bit rubbish. How many prisms has it got? Way too many. The magnification's gone right over the top. That's stupid kind of-” A sharp elbow to the ribs from Eris cut him off. “Am I being rude again?”  
Rose nodded. “Yep.”  
He turned to grin at their newest friends. “But it's pretty. It's very pretty.”  
The Queen agreed. “And the imagination of it should be applauded.”  
Seeing another opportunity, Rose hummed thoughtfully. “Mmm. Thought you might disapprove, Your Majesty. Stargazing. Isn't that a bit fanciful? You could easily not be amused, or something? No?”  
Eris rolled her eyes at the poor attempt as the Queen eyed Rose curiously.   
“This device surveys the infinite work of God. What could be finer? Sir Robert's father was an example to us all. A polymath, steeped in astronomy and sciences, yet equally well versed in folklore and fairytales.”  
“Stars and magic. I like him more and more.” Eris smiled, resting against the telescope.   
“Oh, my late husband enjoyed his company. Prince Albert himself was acquainted with many rural superstitions, coming as he did from Saxe Coburg.” Victoria directed her attention to Robert. “When Albert was told about your local wolf, he was transported.”  
A familiar gleam appeared in the Doctor’s eyes, and the girls shot looks at each other behind his back - of course this would pique his interest. “So, what's this wolf, then?”  
“It's just a story.” Sir Robert’s voice was cracking on every word, and his eyes kept darting between his guests and the servants loitering in the corners of the room.   
“Then tell it.”  
“It's said that-”  
Sir Robert’s tale was cut off by one of the staff, who spoke in deceptively friendly tones.   
“Excuse me, sir. Perhaps her Majesty's party could repair to their rooms. It's almost dark.”  
“Of course. Yes, of course.”  
The Queen seemed delighted by the idea. “And then supper. And could we find some clothes for Miss Tyler? I'm tired of nakedness. Sir Robert, your wife must have left some clothes. See to it. We shall dine at seven, and talk some more of this wolf. After all, there is a full moon tonight.”  
Sir Robert gulped. “So there is, Ma'am.”

Eris joined Rose in the hunt for clothes in one of the bedrooms, on the pretense that she was also interested in changing. The Queen had expressed that she could stay in her tartan if she wished, but after a quick white lie about discomfort they had both been allowed to leave Her Majesty’s presence. Really, the house made Eris anxious. Sir Robert’s shiftiness had not gone unnoticed, and she was reluctant to let Rose venture around the house by herself.   
“Are you alright?” Rose was rifling through a large wardrobe as Eris sat on the bed behind her, watching the door. The brunette’s earlier sadness was worrying her.   
“Yeah, I’m fine. Why?”  
“You didn’t seem fine earlier.” Rose turned to face her friend, leaning against the wardrobe and crossing her arms. “Jamie McCrimmon?”   
Eris understood what she was asking. “He was one of Dad’s companions back in the day. You remember that I told you about when we first met?” Rose nodded, and she continued. “What I didn’t tell you was that they were stuck in my village for two weeks.”   
“What?!”  
“Yep, TARDIS malfunction meant that they couldn’t leave. Anyway, Jamie and I got on really well, and I was gutted when they finally left. I got to meet him once more, centuries later, and it was like we’d never been apart.”   
“That’s so sweet.” As Rose spoke, she turned to open the second wardrobe and got the shock of her life when a young housemaid stumbled out, terrified. 

It took a moment for Eris and Rose to get the young woman to calm down enough to talk.   
“They came through the house. In the excitement they took the Steward and the Master, and my Lady.”  
Rose put an arm around her shoulder. “Listen. We've got a friend. He's called the Doctor. He'll know what to do. You've got to come with us.”  
“Oh, but I can't, Miss.”  
“What's your name?” Eris kept her voice calm, smiling reassuringly.   
“Flora.”  
Gently, Rose led her towards the door. “Flora, we'll be safe. There's more people downstairs, soldiers and everything, and they can help us. I promise. Come on. Okay? Come on.”  
Any illusions of safety they might have had were shattered as they entered the corridor; one of the soldiers that had accompanied the Queen was lying motionless on the floor. Flora immediately began to panic.   
“Oh, Miss. I did warn you.”   
Motioning to Rose to keep an eye out, Eris ducked down to check the man’s pulse.   
“He's not dead. He must be drugged-”  
A hand covered her mouth as a second strong arm wrapped around her chest and she was pulled backwards, kicking at her captor with little success. A glance to her left confirmed her suspicion that Flora and Rose had also been seized, and that the three of them were being taken further away from the dining room with every step. 

Every few moments, the Doctor would look over at the doors to the dining room, hoping that the girls would walk through. They’d been gone a little while, and he couldn’t help but worry. His hearts leapt when the door opened, before dropping again as the head servant entered the room.   
“Your companion begs an apology, Doctor. Her clothing has somewhat delayed her, and your daughter did not wish to leave her unsupervised.”   
He relaxed. “Oh, that's all right. Save Rose a wee bit of ham.”  
The Queen’s lips twitched up into what could only be called a smirk. “The feral child could probably eat it raw.”  
Captain Reynolds burst into laughter that was obviously ingenuine. “Very wise, Ma'am. Very witty.”  
“Slightly witty, perhaps.” The Queen now looked disapproving, although there was still a hint of mirth in her eyes. “I know you rarely get the chance to dine with me, Captain, but don't get too excited. I shall contain my wit in case I do you further injury.”  
“Yes, Ma'am. Sorry, Ma'am.”  
Containing his own laughter, the Doctor changed the subject. “Besides, we're all waiting on Sir Robert. Come, sir. You promised us a tale of nightmares.”  
Victoria agreed. “Indeed. Since my husband's death, I find myself with more of a taste for supernatural fiction.”  
“You must miss him.”  
“Very much. Oh, completely.” A deep sadness settled over the monarch’s face like a veil. “And that's the charm of a ghost story, isn't it? Not the scares and chills, that's just for children, but the hope of some contact with the great beyond. We all want some message from that place. It's the Creator's greatest mystery that we're allowed no such consolation. The dead stay silent, and we must wait. Come. Begin your tale, Sir Robert. There's a chill in the air. The wind is howling through the eaves. Tell us of monsters.”  
Swallowing, Sir Robert began to speak. “The story goes back three hundred years. Every full moon, the howling rings through the valley. The next morning, livestock is found ripped apart and devoured.”  
Reynolds scoffed. “Tales like this just disguise the work of thieves. Steal a sheep and blame a wolf, simple as that.”  
“But sometimes a child goes missing. Once in a generation, a boy will vanish from his homestead.”  
The Doctor leant forward. “Are there descriptions of the creature?”  
“Oh, yes, Doctor. Drawings and woodcarvings. And it's not merely a wolf. It's more than that. This is a man who becomes an animal.”  
“A werewolf?”

Underneath the house, the girls had been taken to a cellar where it was apparent that the rest of the house’s usual residents were being kept and chained to the wall. It was also obvious that the level of danger in the room was rising quickly. Across the room, bathed in the muted light of the stars, was a large metal cage containing what the prisoners only described as ‘a monster’. He looked relatively harmless from a distance, sat cross legged in the cage with his eyes closed, wrapped in a thin black cloak. As far as Eris was concerned, he was just as much a prisoner as they were. So why were the others so afraid?   
As if to answer her question, his eyes opened, locking on the frightened servants. They were completely black. Rose stood and moved the few steps that the chain would permit at exactly the same time Eris did - if things weren’t so precarious, they would have laughed over the coincidence. Behind them, a woman wearing an exquisite grey dress - presumably Sir Robert’s wife, Lady Isobel - hissed at them.   
“Don't, child.”  
“Who are you?” Rose ignored her.   
Eris crouched slightly, getting on the same level as the man. “Where are you from? You're not from Earth. What planet are you from?”  
He finally spoke, and had a high voice that sent chills through the listeners.   
“Oh, intelligence.”  
“Where were you born?”  
“This body? Ten miles away. A weakling, heartsick boy, stolen away at night by the brethren for my cultivation. I carved out his soul and sat in his heart.”  
Rose could feel herself shaking, but took a breath and continued the questioning.  
“All right, so the body's human. But what about you, the thing inside?”  
“So far from home.”  
“If you want to get back home, we can help.”  
“Why would I leave this place? A world of industry, of workforce and warfare. I could turn it to such a purpose.”  
Eris frowned. “How would you do that?”  
“I would migrate to the Holy Monarch.”  
“You mean Queen Victoria?” Rose looked over to Eris, alarmed.   
The man - no, creature - grinned coldly.   
“With one bite, I would pass into her blood, and then it begins. The Empire of the Wolf. So many questions.” He lunged at the bars of his cage, gripping them tightly and pressing his face against it.   
“Look. Inside your eyes. You've seen it too.”  
“Seen what?”  
“The Wolf. And you, darker one. There is something of the Wolf about you.”  
Eris subtly gestured to Rose to grab the chain, keeping her tone neutral.   
“I don't know what you mean.”  
“You burnt like the sun, but all I require is the moon.”

Still in the dining room, the Doctor found himself becoming more and more uneasy with every breath. Sir Robert was sweating profusely, and his servants were behaving very oddly.   
“My father didn't treat it as a story. He said it was fact. He even claimed to have communed with the beast, to have learned its purpose. I should have listened. His work was hindered. He made enemies. There's a monastery in the Glen of Saint Catherine. The Brethren opposed my father's investigations.”  
A soft murmuring distracted the Doctor momentarily, and he realised that it was coming from the head servant, who was standing facing the largest window in the room, chanting the same words over and over.   
“Lupus deus est.”  
The Queen looked thoughtful. “Perhaps they thought his work ungodly.”  
Looking between the Doctor and the servants, Sir Robert spoke quietly.  
“That's what I thought. But now I wonder. What if they had a different reason for wanting the story kept quiet? What if they turned from God and worshipped the wolf?”  
“And what if they were with us right now?” The Doctor stood, but before he could reach the servant the volume of the chanting rose to a shout. 

The Queen was baffled. “What is the meaning of this?”  
“Explain yourself, Sir Robert!” Reynolds was fuming.   
“What's happening?”  
Robert’s voice was almost a sob. “I'm sorry, Your Majesty, they've got my wife.”  
At that, the Doctor’s worst fears were confirmed - the girls were in the middle of it.   
“Eris! Where's Rose? Where are they? Sir Robert, come on!” And he dragged Sir Robert from the room, hoping the man would have some idea of where the captives were being held. 

Down in the cellar, the room brightened as the full moon came into view through the open cellar doors. The thing in the cage groaned in relief, throwing its head back.   
“Moonlight”  
And he started to transform.   
Not wanting to stick around and see the end result of this metamorphosis, Eris and Rose started tugging fiercely at the chain where it was bolted to the wall, encouraging their fellow prisoners to do the same.   
“All of you! Stop looking at it! Flora, don't look. Listen to me. Grab hold of the chain and pull! Come on! With me! Pull!” Lady Isobel seemed glued to the spot, and Rose grabbed her arm. “I said pull! Stop your whining and listen to me! All of you! And that means you, your Ladyship. Now come on, pull!”  
A growl made them look up, and several of the maids screamed. Inside the cage, hunched over, was a colossal wolf. The man had vanished completely, replaced by an infuriated animal that looked as though it could break free any second.

“One, two, three, pull!”  
In a single moment, three things happened. The chain broke from the wall, the door to the cellar was kicked in by the Doctor, and the creature broke through the bars of the cage. Sir Robert followed the Doctor into the room and immediately ran to his wife, leading her and their servants out of harm’s way.   
Eris sighed, relieved. “What took you so long?”   
The Doctor didn’t seem to be listening, staring enraptured at the creature as it breathed heavily, just standing in the wreckage of the bars. “Oh, that's beautiful.”  
Hearing the voice and snapping out of it’s stupor, the wolf picked a piece of cage up and threw it in the Doctor’s direction, narrowly missing the girls as they reached his side. The three of them ran from the room, locking the door behind them with the sonic screwdriver and hoping for the best. 

By the time they reached the gun cupboard, Sir Robert and his staff had armed themselves and were telling the lady of the house to get herself and the maids to safety. Realising that the girls were still shackled together, the Doctor attacked them with the sonic screwdriver while catching up on what had happened.   
“It could be any form of light modulated species triggered by specific wavelengths. Did it say what it wanted?”  
Rose stretched her wrists, glad to be released. “The Queen, the Crown, the throne - you name it.”  
The sound of splintering wood indicated that the wolf had broken out of the cellar, and the Doctor poked his head around the corner of the corridor to check. A flash of fur was the only clue he needed to run back to the group and pull the girls behind him, putting the armed staff between them and the wolf as it approached.   
“Fire! Fire!” The steward ordered, and his men followed his command, lighting up the corridor as their guns flashed. As the wolf slunk back around the corner, the air was thick with the smell of gunpowder.   
“All right, you men. We should retreat upstairs. Come with me.” Wary that the wolf wasn’t as injured as it had looked, the Doctor tried to encourage the rest of them to run, but to little avail.   
“I'll not retreat. The battle's done. There's no creature on God's Earth that could survive such an assault.”  
“I'm telling you, come upstairs!”  
“And I'm telling you, sir, I will sleep well tonight with that thing's hide upon my wall.” The steward walked out into the corridor, looked up and down it, and turned to sneer at the Doctor. “It must have crawled away to die.”  
Almost as soon as he had spoken, a hairy grey arm reached down from the ceiling and hoisted the man up; an action which was quickly followed by snarling and a sickening, wet tearing noise. Now suitably terrified of the situation they were in, the rest of them ran for it. 

At the main staircase, they met up with the Queen and Captain Reynolds. The remaining servants had split up and tried to find their own way out, so the only people left to meet them were the Doctor, Eris, Rose and Sir Robert.   
“Your Majesty? Your Majesty!”  
“Sir Robert? What's happening? I heard such terrible noises.”  
Sir Robert was practically hyperventilating. “Your Majesty, we've got to get out. But what of Father Angelo? Is he still here?”  
“Captain Reynolds disposed of him.”  
A quick look at the closest exits proved that leaving was going to be trickier than first expected. The Doctor led them up the stairs to the first landing.   
“The front door's no good, it's been boarded shut. Pardon me, Your Majesty. You'll have to leg it out of a window.”  
Sir Robert made a gentlemanly excuse for trying to leg it out of the house before the most important woman in the country. “Excuse my manners, Ma'am, but I shall go first, the better to assist Her Majesty's egress.”  
“A noble sentiment, my Sir Walter Raleigh.”   
Groaning - and losing the Scottish accent he had been trying hard to keep up - the Doctor tried to hurry their escape along. “Yeah, any chance you could hurry up?”   
The plans were short lived, as when Sir Robert opened the window the monks that had accompanied Father Angelo opened fire.   
Eris pulled the window shut. “I reckon the monkey boys want us to stay inside.”  
Naturally, the Queen was fuming. “Do they know who I am??”  
Rose winced, and broached the topic gently. “Yeah, that's why they want you. The wolf's lined you up for a...a biting.”  
“Stop this talk. There can't be an actual wolf.”  
On cue, there was a loud howl that sounded uncomfortably close.   
“What do we do?”  
“We run.” The Doctor seemed worried.   
“Is that it?”  
“You got any silver bullets?”  
“Not on me, no.”  
“There we are then, we run. Your Majesty, as a Doctor, I recommend a vigorous jog. Good for the health. Come on!”  
They continued to run up the staircase, very aware that the wolf was catching up to them.

Sir Robert had managed to mention the idea of heading for the library seconds before the werewolf entered the same corridor, gaining on them with wide strides. Reynolds turned and shot, stopping the wolf in its tracks for a moment.   
“I'll take this position and hold it. You keep moving, for God's sake! Your Majesty, I went to look for the property and it was taken. The chest was empty.”  
The Queen shook her head. “I have it. It's safe.”  
“Then remove yourself, Ma'am. Doctor, you stand as Her Majesty's Protector. And you, Sir Robert, you're a traitor to the crown.”  
Eris grabbed his arm. “Bullets can't stop it!”  
“They'll buy you time. Now run!”  
So they did. They just about got the doors to the library closed behind them before the sound of screams and tearing flesh filled the corridor behind them. Reynolds had indeed bought them time - but at the cost of his life. 

“Wait a minute. Shush, shush, wait a minute.” Pressing his ear up to the wall, the Doctor listened for any sounds from the wolf while the girls helped Sir Robert to barricade the doors. There was nothing. “It's stopped. It's gone.”   
Eris frowned, joining him at the wall. “I don't understand. What's stopping it?”  
“Something inside this room. What is it? Why can't it get in?”  
Rose tapped them both on the shoulder. “I'll tell you what, though.”  
“What?”  
“Werewolf!”  
The Doctor couldn’t help but grin. “I know. You all right?”  
“I'm okay, yeah.”  
“Eris, all good?”   
She nodded, accepting the offered hug. “Yeah, fine.”   
Sir Robert was doing his best to explain himself to the Queen, who looked as though she would explode with fury at any moment.   
“I'm sorry, Ma'am. It's all my fault. I should have sent you away. I tried to suggest something was wrong. I thought you might notice. Did you think there was nothing strange about my household staff?”  
The Doctor snorted. “Well, they were bald, athletic. Your wife's away, I just thought you were happy.”  
“I'll tell you what though, Ma'am, I bet you're not amused now.”   
As soon as the words left Rose’s mouth, she regretted the levity. Clearly, the Queen did not appreciate her attempt at humour.   
“Do you think this is funny?”  
“No, Ma'am. I'm sorry.”  
“What, exactly, I pray tell me, someone, please. What exactly is that creature?”  
The Doctor jumped in. “You'd call it a werewolf, but technically it's more of a lupine wavelength haemovariform.”  
“And should I trust you, sir? You who change your voice so easily? What happened to your accent?”  
Realising that his accent had dropped completely, he tried to go back to it.   
“Oh right, sorry, that's-”  
“I'll not have it. No, sir. Not you, not that thing, none of it. This is not my world.”

After the Queen’s outburst, there had been an uncomfortable silence hanging over the group. Her Majesty had been coldly avoiding both Rose and the Doctor, only being kinder to Eris because she seemed to be the one out of the three taking the situation seriously. The Doctor was tapping along the walls, trailing his fingers along an intricate set of carvings.   
“Mistletoe. Sir Robert, did you father put that there?”  
Robert shrugged. “I don't know. I suppose.”  
“On the other door, too. No, a carving wouldn't be enough. I wonder…”   
To Rose’s disgust and Eris’ mild annoyance, he leant forwards and licked the wall, grimacing at the taste. Eris rolled her eyes.   
“It’s a wall. Did you expect it to taste good?”  
“Viscum album, the oil of the mistletoe. It's been worked into the wood like a varnish. How clever was your dad?” He swung round to point at Sir Robert. “I love him. Powerful stuff, mistletoe. Bursting with lectins and viscotoxins.”  
Rose frowned. “And the wolf's allergic to it?”  
“Well, it thinks it is. The monkey monk monks need a way of controlling the wolf, maybe they trained it to react against certain things.”  
Sir Robert still sounded despondent. “Nevertheless, that creature won't give up, Doctor, and we still don't possess an actual weapon.”  
“Oh, your father got all the brains, didn't he?” The Doctor snorted, and Eris nudged him.  
“Being rude again.”  
“Good. I meant that one.” He pulled a book from the nearest shelf and dropped it on the table in front of Sir Robert. “You want weapons? We're in a library. Books! Best weapons in the world. This room's the greatest arsenal we could have. So arm yourself.” 

Everyone except Queen Victoria - who sat at the table with a face like thunder - launched themselves at the bookshelves, flicking through anything that looked remotely relevant and talking over each other.   
“Biology, zoology. There might be something on wolves in here…”  
“Hold on, what about this? A book on mistletoe.”  
“Some form of explosive.”  
“Wolf's bane, what about that?”   
Balancing precariously on one of the bottom shelves, Eris stretched up to pull a book from the top shelf, grinning as the very first page she turned to gave them what they wanted.   
“Dad, look at this.”   
The Doctor peered over her shoulder for a second before taking the book and setting it on the table so they could all see the contents.   
“Look what your old dad found. Something fell to Earth.”   
On the page was an illustration of a bright object falling from the sky on a clear, starry night.   
“A spaceship?” Rose stared at the picture.   
Sir Robert read the caption. “A shooting star. In the year of our Lord 1540, under the reign of King James the Fifth, an almighty fire did burn in the pit. That's the Glen of Saint Catherine just by the monastery.”  
“But that's over three hundred years ago. What's it been waiting for?”  
The Doctor thought for a second. “Maybe just a single cell survived. Adapting slowly down the generations, it survived through the humans, host after host after host.”  
“But why does it want the throne?” Sir Robert looked anxiously between the Doctor and the Queen.   
Rose shrugged. “That's what it wants. It said so. The, the Empire of the Wolf.”  
The Doctor frowned, not liking the mental image that had arisen.   
“Imagine it. The Victorian Age accelerated. Starships and missiles fueled by coal and driven by steam, leaving history devastated in its wake.” 

The Queen stood. “Sir Robert. If I am to die here-”  
“Don't say that, Your Majesty.”  
“I would destroy myself rather than let that creature infect me. But that's no matter. I ask only that you find some place of safekeeping for something far older and more precious than myself.”  
The Doctor rolled his eyes. “Hardly the time to worry about your valuables.”  
Her tone sharpened. “Thank you for your opinion, but there is nothing more valuable than this.” And she reached into a concealed pocket in her dress, pulling out a stunning white diamond that filled the palm of her hand.   
“Is that the Koh-I-Noor?” Eris gasped, awestruck. She’d heard rumours and seen pictures of the infamous gem, but never had the fortune to see it in person.   
The Doctor grinned. “Oh, yes. The greatest diamond in the world.”  
The Queen stared at it with an odd look on her face. “Given to me as the spoils of war. Perhaps its legend is now coming true. It is said that whoever owns it must surely die.”  
“Well, that's true of anything if you own it long enough. Can I?” He extended a hand, and after a moment’s thought she placed the stone on his palm.   
Rose ran a finger over it tentatively, like she was scared it would break if she was too forceful.   
“That is so beautiful. How much is that worth?”  
“They say, the wages of the entire planet for a whole week.”  
“Good job my mum's not here. She'd be fighting the wolf off with her bare hands for that thing.”  
Eris snorted. “And she'd win.”

The Doctor couldn't help but ask. “Why do you travel with it?”  
“My annual pilgrimage. I'm taking it to Helier and Carew, the Royal Jewellers at Hazelhead. The stone needs recutting.”  
“Oh, but it's perfect.” Rose gushed, unable to comprehend why anyone would want to change such a beautiful thing.   
“My late husband never thought so.”  
Eris nodded. “I heard stories that Prince Albert kept on having the Koh-I-Noor cut down. It used to be forty percent bigger than this. But he was never happy. Kept on cutting and cutting.”  
“He always said the shine was not quite right. But he died with it still unfinished.”  
“Unfinished. Oh, yes.” The Doctor tossed the diamond back to the Queen, who caught it and held it close. “There's a lot of unfinished business in this house. His father's research, and your husband, Ma'am, he came here and he sought the perfect diamond. Hold on, hold on. All these separate things, they're not separate at all, they're connected. Oh, my head, my head. What if this house, it's a trap for you. Is that right, Ma'am?”  
“Obviously.”  
“At least, that's what the wolf intended. But, what if there's a trap inside the trap?”  
“Explain yourself, Doctor.”  
Coming to the same realisation, Eris jumped in.   
“What if his father and your husband weren't just telling each other stories. They dared to imagine all this was true, and they planned against it, laying the real trap not for you but for the wolf?”   
A fine mist of plaster dust settled over them, and the group looked up nervously. The wolf was above them.   
“That wolf there.”  
The glass in the skylight began to crack, and the Doctor grabbed Eris and Rose by the shoulders, pulling them away from the centre of the room. “Out! Out! Out!”

They made it into the corridor as the werewolf dropped through the glass and crashed to the floor, the Doctor slamming the doors behind them.   
“Get to the observatory!”  
The doors didn’t hold it for long, and the wolf caught up to them, taking a swipe at Rose. Eris shoved Rose behind her, putting herself between her friend and the wolf, when a steaming pan of liquid was thrown over the creature. It cringed away from the substance, and retreated.   
“Good shot!” The Doctor praised the maids, who had come up from the kitchens with Lady Isobel, as he checked that both girls were okay.   
Flora looked surprised at her own actions. “It was mistletoe!”  
Upon seeing his wife, Sir Robert pulled her close for a kiss before encouraging her to leave them again. “Now, get back downstairs.”  
“Keep yourself safe.”  
“Now go.”  
She ushered the girls back to the kitchens as the rest of them headed for the stairs, aware that the wolf had almost recovered. 

Upon reaching the observatory, they were faced with a rather pressing issue. The Doctor groaned. “No mistletoe in these doors because your father wanted the wolf to get inside. I just need time. Is there any way of barricading this?”  
Sir Robert thought for a moment, before replying. “Just do your work and I'll defend it.”  
“If we could bind them shut with rope or something…”  
“I said I'd find you time, Sir. Now get inside.”  
Realising what the man was planning to do, the Doctor offered him a hand. “Are you sure?”   
Sir Robert didn’t answer, and Eris pulled a pair of swords from a display bracket on the closest wall.   
“We’ll make sure you have time.”   
“Miss, I can’t let you do that.” Sir Robert tried to discourage her.   
“We don’t have time to argue, and I’m not letting you stay out here alone. Dad, get on with it. The longer we stand arguing, the less time you’ll have inside.”   
Knowing she would have a plan, the Doctor directed Rose and the Queen into the observatory; for this to work, they needed as much time as possible. 

As the wolf advanced up the stairs, both of them took up a defensive stance, Eris slightly behind Sir Robert. For her plan to work, she needed to be able to get to the door fast. The wolf snarled, and Sir Robert shouted.   
“I committed treason for you, but now my wife will remember me with honour!”   
It lunged for him and he slashed at the beast wildly, praying that one of his strikes would land. A second flash of silver in front of him, and Eris’ sword lodged itself into the wolf’s side. It howled in agony and surged forwards to bite Sir Robert. The man closed his eyes, hoping that the end would be swift - before he felt himself being dragged backwards and heard the sound of a door slamming in front of him. He opened his eyes as Eris tugged the sword from his grip and used it to wedge the door closed.   
“She’ll get to thank you herself later. Now come on!” 

Barely aware that the others were safe, Rose and the Doctor were setting up the telescope.   
“You said this thing doesn't work.”  
“It doesn't work as a telescope because that's not what it is. It's a light chamber. It magnifies the light rays like a weapon. We've just got to power it up.”  
“It won't work. There's no electricity.” Rose flinched as a hand landed on her shoulder, sighing in relief when she realised it was a slightly disheveled Eris, who had put together the last pieces of the puzzle now that Sir Robert was safely away from the door.   
“Moonlight.”  
“But the wolf needs moonlight. It's made by moonlight.”  
The Doctor was straining against the stiff cogs. “You're seventy percent water but you can still drown. Come on! Come on!”  
As the telescope moved into place, the moonlight was amplified onto a patch of ground. The wolf broke in, and the Doctor slid the Koh-I-Noor across the floor so it caught the light, refracting the beam onto the wolf. It rose into the air, suspended in the moonlight, and the form of the man it had once been became visible again. He hung there for a moment, before mustering the energy to gasp out.  
“Make it brighter. Let me go.”  
Adjusting the magnification, the Doctor watched as the wolf shape reappeared, a shadow of its former self, before vanishing with a howl and taking the human body with it. 

There was silence in the observatory. The Doctor became worried when he saw the Queen, standing exactly where she had been, examining her wrist with a slight frown.   
“Your Majesty? Did it bite you?”  
“No, it's… it's a cut, that's all.”  
“If that thing bit you-”  
“It was a splinter of wood when the door came apart. It's nothing.”  
“Let me see.” He approached to check the injury, but she pulled away and snapped at him.  
“It is nothing.”

Morning came, and the residents of the house who had survived the night watched on as the Doctor, Rose and Eris knelt before the Queen, who held the same sword that had been used to block the observatory doors hours before.   
“By the power invested in me by the Church and the State, I dub thee Sir Doctor of Tardis. By the power invested in me by the Church and the State, I dub thee Dame Eris of Tardis. By the power invested in me by the Church and the State, I dub thee Dame Rose of the Powell Estate. You may stand.”   
They stood, overwhelmed by the accolades bestowed on them, grinning from ear to ear.   
“Many thanks, Ma'am.”  
“Thanks. They're never going to believe this back home.”  
The Doctor looked the Queen in the eyes, trying to convey his next point as sincerely as he could.  
“Your Majesty, you said last night about receiving no message from the great beyond. I think your husband cut that diamond to save your life. He's protecting you even now, Ma'am, from beyond the grave.”  
Queen Victoria nodded. “Indeed. Then you may think on this also. That I am not amused.”  
“Yes!” Rose couldn’t stop herself from celebrating, but her joy was short lived as the Queen continued to berate them.   
“Not remotely amused. And henceforth I banish you.”  
The Doctor couldn’t quite believe what he was hearing. “I'm sorry?”  
“I have rewarded you, Sir Doctor, and now you are exiled from this empire, never to return. I don't know what you are, the three of you, or where you're from, but I know that you consort with stars and magic and think it fun. To dance with the devil as Miss McCrimmon did is unacceptably close to blasphemy. Your world is steeped in terror and blasphemy and death, and I will not allow it. You will leave these shores and you will reflect, I hope, on how you came to stray so far from all that is good, and how much longer you may survive this terrible life. Now leave my world, and never return.”

After hitching a ride with a local farmer, the trio arrived back at the Tardis. The Doctor couldn’t resist giving them one last fact to keep them thinking.   
“No, but the funny thing is, Queen Victoria did actually suffer a mutation of the blood. It's a historical record. She was haemophiliac. They used to call it the Royal Disease. But it's always been a mystery because she didn't inherit it. Her mum didn't have it, her dad didn't have it. It came from nowhere.”  
“What, and you're saying that's a wolf bite?” Rose was incredulous.   
“Well, maybe haemophilia is just a Victorian euphemism.”  
Eris scoffed, unconvinced. “For werewolf?”  
“Could be.”  
“Queen Victoria's a werewolf?”  
“Could be. And her children had the Royal Disease. Maybe she gave them a quick nip.”  
Rose laughed. “So, the Royal Family are werewolves?”  
“Well, maybe not yet. I mean, a single wolf cell could take a hundred years to mature. Might be ready by, oh, early 21st century?”  
“Nah, that's just ridiculous! Mind you, Princess Anne.”  
They all laughed at this, and Rose continued her line of thinking as they walked into the Tardis.   
“And if you think about it, they're very private. They plan everything in advance. They could schedule themselves around the moon. We'd never know. And they like hunting! They love blood sports. Oh my God, they're werewolves!”

The only remnant of their presence in 1879 was the howls of laughter as the ship dematerialised, leaving the countryside peaceful and quiet once more.


	4. School Reunion

“Good morning, class. Are we sitting comfortably?”   
It was safe to say that class 2b, year 8 physics, were confused by the man that was in their classroom. For a start, he wasn’t their usual teacher. Ms Ellis was middle aged, with greying hair and a voice that could have put a brick wall to sleep. This man was young, energetic, and clearly a bit bonkers.   
“So, physics. Physics, eh? Physics. Physics. Physics! Physics. Physics, physics, physics, physics, physics, physics, physics. I hope one of you is getting all this down.” The Doctor was thoroughly enjoying himself; physics had always been one of his strongest subjects. “Okay let's see what you know. Two identical strips of nylon are charged with static electricity and hung from a string so they can swing freely. What would happen if they were brought near each other?”  
A boy in the second row put his hand up.   
“Yes, er, what's your name?”  
“Milo.”  
“Milo! Off you go.”  
“They'd repel each other because they have the same charge.”  
“Correctamundo!” The Doctor cringed a little, very glad that Eris wasn’t in the room - he would never have lived it down if she’d heard that. “A word I have never used before and hopefully never will again. Question two. I coil up a thin piece of nichrome wire and place it in a glass of water. Then I turn on the electricity and measure to see if the water's temperature is affected. My question is this. How do I measure the electrical power going into the coil?”  
Every child in the class looked like they were about to fall asleep - except for Milo, who had his hand stretched up to the ceiling.   
“Someone else. No? Okay, Milo, go for it.”  
“Measure the current and PDs in an ammeter and a voltmeter.”  
“Two to Milo. Right then, Milo, tell me this. True or false. The greater the dampening of the system, the quicker it loses energy to its surroundings.”  
“False.”  
The Doctor was getting an odd feeling about Milo, and decided to keep asking him questions.   
“What is non-coding DNA?”  
“DNA that doesn't code for a protein.”  
“Sixty five thousand nine hundred and eighty three times five?”  
“Three hundred and twenty nine thousand nine hundred and fifteen.” Milo’s answers were almost robotic, and his classmates looked a little anxious being sat near him.   
An impossible question, the Doctor thought. That would really test him.   
“How do you travel faster than light?”  
“By opening a quantum tunnel with an FTL factor of thirty six point seven recurring.”   
The Doctor couldn’t stop his jaw dropping in shock. 12 year old Milo was right. 

Trying to take his mind off the disturbing intelligence he had seen in the classroom, the Doctor grinned at the dinner lady who served up his chips. The sulky expression on Rose’s face was simply hilarious. He found an empty table in the middle of the room, and was quickly joined by a disgruntled figure in grey Deffry Vale Sixth Form uniform.   
“I can’t believe they thought I was eighteen.”   
“Well you didn’t tell them you weren’t.”   
Eris scowled. “Because you didn’t give me the chance! You jumped in and told them to put me in A level chemistry. I could probably teach that class in my sleep!”   
The Doctor smiled sheepishly. “Sorry.”   
Things didn’t get any better for him, as Rose joined them on the pretense of cleaning the table so she could berate him as well.   
“Two days. Two days, we've been here.”  
The Doctor sighed. “Blame your boyfriend. He's the one who put us on to this. And he was right. Boy in class this morning, got a knowledge way beyond planet Earth.”   
Eris nodded. “The older groups are the same, there are kids in there that understand concepts I’ve never heard of.”   
Looking at the untouched meal in front of the Doctor, Rose frowned.   
“You eating those chips?”   
He pulled a face. “Yeah, they're a bit different.”   
Nicking one off the side of his plate, Eris gave it an experimental nibble and shuddered, hating the bitter aftertaste. Rose didn’t seem to share their opinions.   
“I think they're gorgeous. Wish I had school dinners like this.”  
Looking around the full cafeteria, the Doctor raised another point.   
“It's very well behaved, this place. I thought there'd be happy slapping hoodies. Happy slapping hoodies with ASBOs. Happy slapping hoodies with ASBOs and ringtones. Huh? Huh?”   
Eris and Rose simply stared at him, eyebrows raised. “Oh, yeah. Don't tell me I don't fit in.”  
Before either of them could get a snarky comment in, the head dinner lady came over to the table to address Rose.   
“You are not permitted to leave your station during a sitting.”  
“I was just talking to this teacher. He doesn't like the chips.”  
“The menu has been specifically designed by the headmaster to improve concentration and performance. Now, get back to work.”  
The woman walked away, and Rose gestured down at her uniform.   
“See? This is me. Dinner lady.”  
The Doctor smirked. “I'll have the crumble.”  
“I'm so going to kill you.”

Back in the kitchen, Rose was cleaning up some of the mess around the sink when she noticed the other dinner ladies behaving very strangely. They were wearing heavy duty gloves and air filter masks, and rolling a large drum of cooking oil through the kitchen. They were walking very cautiously, each one of them supporting the barrel to avoid any spillage.   
“Careful. Keep it steady. Don't spill a drop. I said, keep it steady. Careful. That's it. Easy now. Steady.”   
Rose’s phone rang as they got the barrel into place, and the rest of the kitchen staff hurried away to collect a second one.   
“What you got?”  
“Confirmation.” Even while speaking at a whisper, Mickey sounded smug. “I just got into army records. Three months ago, massive UFO activity. They logged over forty sightings. Lights in the sky, all of that. I can't get any photos, because then it gets all classified and secret. Keeps locking me out.”   
Rose hummed. “Tell you what, though. Three months ago, it turns out all the kitchen staff were replaced. And this lot are weird.”  
“See? There's definitely something going on. I was right to call you home.”  
“I thought maybe you called me home just, well, just to call me home.”  
Mickey rolled his eyes. “Do you think I'd just invent an emergency?”  
“You could've done.”  
“That's the last thing I'd do. Because every time I see you, an emergency just gets in the way.”  
On the topic of emergencies, as the dinner ladies wheeled the next barrel of oil into the kitchen, it toppled and one of the women was splashed with the thick yellow oil. She immediately started screaming, and her colleagues pulled her into the nearby office.   
“I've got to go.”  
Rose could hear Mickey asking what was going on down the phone as she hung up, hands shaking a little as she started to dial another number. The head dinner lady walked out of the office, frowning. “What're you doing?”  
“Calling an ambulance.”  
“No need. She's quite all right.” A flash of fiery light and a high screech from the office. The woman’s voice remained flat, completely emotionless. “It's fine. She does that.” And she returned to the office, locking the door behind her, leaving Rose staring warily at the oily residue on the side of the barrel. 

The Doctor was getting increasingly worried as he spoke to some of the teachers in the staff room; he wasn’t the only person who had noticed the impossible knowledge of some of the students. His latest interviewee was the history teacher.   
“Yesterday, I had a twelve year old girl give me the exact height of the Walls of Troy - in cubits.”  
“And, it's ever since the new headmaster arrived?”  
“Finch arrived three months ago. Next day, half the staff got the flu. Finch replaced them with that lot,” he gestured subtly to a cluster of young looking teachers clustered together in one corner of the room “except for the teacher you replaced, and that was just plain weird, her winning the lottery like that.”  
“How's that weird?”  
“She never played. Said the ticket was posted through her door at midnight.”   
Fighting to keep a smirk off his face, the Doctor simply said, “Hmm. The world is very strange.”   
Mr Finch entered the staff room and the atmosphere changed, every member of staff tensing slightly. The man was smiling smugly, and was standing with a petite woman who looked around the room curiously. Frozen on the spot, the Doctor had to focus every part of his brain on stopping his jaw from dropping in shock.   
“Excuse me, colleagues. A moment of your time. May I introduce Miss Sarah Jane Smith. Miss Smith is a journalist who's writing a profile about me for the Sunday Times. I thought it might be useful for her to get a view from the trenches, so to speak. Don't spare my blushes.”  
Finch left Sarah Jane standing in the doorway, and she took a moment to choose her first target. The group in the corner looked aloof, and a little intimidating, so she decided to try her luck with the man in the pinstriped suit on the other side of the room. As she approached, the Doctor did his best to keep his hearts beating regularly, and tried not to embarrass himself.   
“Hello.”  
“Oh, I should think so.” Oops.   
Ignoring the quirky greeting, Sarah Jane continued. “And, you are?”  
“Hm? Er, Smith. John Smith.” The Doctor tried his best to recover, but he could feel the grin creeping up his cheeks.   
Sarah Jane’s eyes looked misty for a moment. “John Smith. I used to have a friend who sometimes went by that name.”  
“Well, it's a very common name.”  
“He was a very uncommon man. Nice to meet you.”  
“Nice to meet you. Yes, very nice. More than nice. Brilliant.”  
Deciding that Mr Smith was probably just a bit nervous about being put on the spot, Sarah Jane started gathering information.   
“Er, so, er, have you worked here long?”  
“No. Er, it's only my second day.”  
“Oh, you're new, then. So, what do you think of the school? I mean, this new curriculum? So many children are getting ill. Doesn't that strike you as odd?”  
The Doctor’s hearts were singing in his chest. Sarah Jane - his Sarah Jane - was just as curious as ever. She was still incredible. “You don't sound like someone just doing a profile.”  
Sarah Jane looked around them, making sure they weren’t being listened to.  
“Well, no harm in a little investigation while I'm here.”  
“No. Good for you.”  
Moving away to interview some of the other staff, Sarah Jane didn’t notice the Doctor’s smile widening even further.   
“Good for you. Oh, good for you, Sarah Jane Smith.”  
He couldn’t wait to tell Eris about this. 

9:15 pm, and they were back in the school. Mickey had joined them, although he was beginning to regret it - the whole place had a very odd feeling about it. Rose shuddered a little.   
“Oh, it's weird seeing school at night. It just feels wrong. When I was a kid, I used to think all the teachers slept in school.”   
The Doctor clapped his hands. “All right, team. Oh, I hate people who say team. Er, gang. Er, comrades. Anyway, Rose, go to the kitchen. Get a sample of that oil. Mickey, the new staff are all Maths teachers. Go and check out the Maths department. Eris can go with you. I'm going to look in Finch's office. Be back here in ten minutes.” He turned on his heel and left them standing there.   
“Are you going to be alright?”  
Mickey snorted. “Me? Please. Infiltration and investigation? I'm an expert at this.”   
He walked confidently down the corridor as Eris hung back, glancing at Rose in amusement.   
He came back, looking a bit sheepish. “Where's the Maths department?”  
Eris grinned. “Down there, turn left, through the fire doors, on the right. Come on.”  
They started heading that way, leaving Rose to head for the kitchens. 

Sarah Jane was also inside the school, looking through the places where something could be hidden most easily. There was something wrong about this school, she just couldn’t put her finger on it. Opening the door to one of the art storerooms, she felt her heart stop. It was impossible. Completely, utterly impossible. She hadn’t seen that blue box in a very long time… Stepping forward, resting a hand cautiously on the door, a voice from behind made her jump.   
“Hello, Sarah Jane.”   
She turned around to see the young teacher from earlier, Mr Smith, now wearing a long tan trench coat over his suit. And everything fell into place.   
“It's you. Oh, Doctor Oh, my God, it's you, isn't it. You've regenerated.”  
He laughed. “Yeah. Half a dozen times since we last met.”  
“You look incredible.”  
“So do you.”  
Sarah Jane huffed. “I got old. What are you doing here?”  
The Doctor shrugged. “Well, UFO sighting, school gets record results. I couldn't resist. What about you?”  
“The same.” They both smiled for a moment, before Sarah Jane turned the conversation to a more serious topic. “I thought you'd died. I waited for you and you didn't come back, and I thought you must have died.”  
His smile dropped. “I lived. Everyone else died.”  
“What do you mean?”  
“Everyone died, Sarah.”  
“I can't believe it's you. But what about-” Before she could finish her question, the sound of Mickey screaming echoed through the school’s corridors. “Okay, now I can!” And they ran to see what was going on. 

They bumped into Rose on the way to the source of the noise. It took her a moment to notice the Doctor’s company.   
“Did you hear that? Who's she?”  
“Rose, Sarah Jane. Sarah Jane, Rose.” He tried to keep the introduction short and sweet, but both women had already stopped in their tracks to get a better look at each other.   
Sarah Jane was doing her best to hold back a smirk. “Hi. Nice to meet you.” She glanced up at the Doctor. “You can tell you're getting older. Your assistants are getting younger.”  
Rose scoffed. “I'm not his assistant.”  
“No? Get you, tiger.”   
Groaning, the Doctor set off in the direction of the maths department again, knowing they would both follow. 

Inside one of the maths classrooms, Mickey was leaning against a desk, breathing heavily. As the Doctor burst through the door, he started apologising.   
“Sorry! Sorry, it was only me. You told me to investigate, so I started looking through some of these cupboards and all of these fell on me.”   
He pointed at a pile of lumpy yellow objects wrapped in plastic that had cascaded out of the cupboard and pooled around his feet. As the others crouched to investigate, Rose realised what they were.   
“Oh, my God, they're rats. Dozens of rats. Vacuum packed rats.”  
The Doctor rolled his eyes at Mickey. “And you decided to scream.”  
“It took me by surprise!”  
“Like a little girl?”  
“It was dark! I was covered in rats!”   
“Nine, maybe ten years old. I'm seeing pigtails, a frilly skirt.”  
Eris rested a hand on the Doctor’s shoulder to get his attention. “Leave him alone, dad. There’s rats in all the other rooms too, I checked.”  
A soft gasp from Sarah Jane stopped all discussion completely, and for a moment there was complete silence. Eris was frozen on the spot, staring at Sarah Jane where she stood between Rose and Mickey in complete disbelief. Time seemed to stop altogether, but in reality they were still for only a fraction of a second before the two of them ran at each other, kicking rats out of the way so they could hug each other close. Rose watched on in confusion as her friend clung to the stranger, the two of them talking what sounded like complete nonsense.   
“You haven’t changed at all…”  
“...how long?”  
“...the Sontarans, and…”  
“...Lethbridge-Stewart!”  
“Do you remember…”  
“...and then there was Morbius…”  
Rose couldn’t help herself, and snapped. “Hello, can we focus? Does anyone notice anything strange about this? Rats in school?”   
Sarah Jane, still with an arm around Eris’ shoulders, raised her eyebrows.   
“Well, obviously they use them in Biology lessons. They dissect them. Or maybe you haven't reached that bit yet. How old are you?”  
“Excuse me, no one dissects rats in school anymore. They haven't done that for years. Where are you from, the dark ages?”   
Noticing that the tone of the conversation had become rather nasty, Eris stepped in.   
“Moving on, what have we worked out so far?”  
Grateful for the change of subject, the Doctor jumped in.   
“Everything started when Mister Finch arrived. We should go and check his office.”

As the group left the maths department and headed for the office, Rose couldn’t resist speaking.   
“I don't mean to be rude or anything, but who exactly are you?”  
Sarah Jane smiled. “Sarah Jane Smith. I used to travel with the Doctor.”  
“Oh. Well, he's never mentioned you.”   
The hurt look on Sarah Jane’s face gave Rose a little buzz, even though she could see Eris glaring at her out of the corner of her eye.   
Panicking, the Doctor tried to recover the situation. “Oh, I must've done. Sarah Jane. Mention her all the time.”  
“Hold on. Sorry. Never.”  
“What, not even once? He didn't mention me even once?”   
Eris linked her arm with Sarah Jane’s. “He’s not really one for talking about the past, but that doesn’t mean he forgot about you. In fact, your room is still opposite mine in the Tardis!”   
As Sarah Jane relaxed and felt a little less upset, she took the lead towards Finch’s office with Eris, followed by a glowering Rose. Mickey hung back with the Doctor, who looked a little unsettled.   
“Ho, ho, mate. The missus and the ex. Welcome to every man's worst nightmare.”

Naturally, the door to Finch’s office was locked, so the Doctor set about breaking in with the sonic screwdriver. He thought out loud as he did so. “Maybe those rats were food.”  
“Food for what?” Rose frowned.   
As the door opened, the Doctor looked up at the ceiling.   
“Rose, you know you used to think all the teachers slept in the school? Well, they do.”  
Giant, bat-like creatures hung from the ceiling, rustling slightly as their breathing made their wings shift against their leathery skin.   
Mickey paled. “No way!” And legged it out of the corridor.   
Closing the office door again, the Doctor ushered the others out of the school at a more steady pace. 

“I am not going back in there. No way.” Mickey was adamant, shaking a little as he thought about the creatures inside the building.   
Rose shivered. “Those were teachers.”  
The Doctor did some quick calculations in his head. “When Finch arrived, he brought with him seven new teachers, four dinner ladies and a nurse. Thirteen. Thirteen big bat people. Come on.”  
“Come on? You've got to be kidding!”   
“I need the Tardis. I've got to analyse that oil from the kitchen.”   
Sarah Jane smiled, grabbing the Doctor’s arm. “I might be able to help you there. I've got something to show you!” And she dragged him towards her car.   
The others followed, slightly bemused, until she opened the boot to reveal an angular, dog shaped object made out of metal. Rose and Mickey were less than impressed, but Eris seemed as delighted as the Doctor was.   
“K9! Oh hello boy, it’s been a while since I’ve seen you!”  
The Doctor patted the robot lovingly.   
“Rose Tyler, Mickey Smith, allow me to introduce K9. Well, K9 Mark Three to be precise.”  
“Why does he look so disco?” Rose snorted.   
“Oi! Listen, in the year five thousand, this was cutting edge. What's happened to him?”  
Sarah Jane shrugged sadly. “Oh, one day, he just… stopped. Nothing.”  
“Well, didn't you try and get him repaired?”  
“Well, it's not like getting parts for a Mini Metro, Beside, the technology inside him could rewrite human science. I couldn't show him to anyone.”  
The Doctor scratched behind K9’s metal ears, cooing softly at the silent machine.   
“Ooh, what's the nasty lady done to you, eh?”  
Eris rubbed absentmindedly at a patch of rust that was creeping up K9’s side, and Rose rolled her eyes.   
“Look, no offence, but could you lot just stop petting for a minute? Never mind the tin dog. We're busy.”  
Hoisting K9 into his arms, the Doctor asked Mickey to lead them to the nearest fish and chip shop. 

Rose’s frustration grew exponentially when they got to the chippy and the Doctor took up a whole table for himself, Sarah Jane and Eris by setting K9 down on the table and dropping a bundle of tools onto the spare chair. She and Mickey got their chips, and sat down a few tables away.   
Mickey smirked. “You see, what's impressive is that it's been nearly an hour since we met her and I still haven't said I told you so.”  
“I'm not listening to this.” Rose sighed, shoving a few chips in her mouth.   
“Although, I have prepared a little ‘I was right’ dance that I can show you later. All this time you've been giving it, he's different, when the truth is, he's just like any other bloke.”  
“You don't know what you're talking about.”  
“Maybe not. But if I were you I'd go easy on the chips.”

At the other table, Sarah Jane started up a conversation while Eris and the Doctor fiddled with bits of K9’s internal circuitry.   
“I thought of you on Christmas Day. This Christmas just gone? Great big spaceship overhead. I thought, oh yeah, bet he's up there.”  
“Right on top of it, yeah.”  
“And Rose?”  
“She was there too.”   
She paused for a moment. “Did I do something wrong? Because you never came back for me. You just... dumped me.”  
The Doctor sighed. “I told you. I was called back home and in those days humans weren't allowed. I only just got away with bringing Eris with me and she still got arrested the moment we turned up.”   
“I waited for you. I missed you.”  
“Oh, you didn't need me. You were getting on with your life.”   
Eris rolled her eyes. “You never get it, do you? It’s hard getting left behind.”   
Sarah Jane nodded in agreement. “You were my life. You know what the most difficult thing was? Coping with what happens next, or with what doesn't happen next. You took me to the furthest reaches of the galaxy, you showed me supernovas, intergalactic battles, and then you just dropped me back on Earth. How could anything compare to that?”  
The Doctor was quiet for a second. “All those things you saw, do you want me to apologise for that?”  
“No, but we get a taste of that splendour and then we have to go back.”  
“Look at you, you're investigating. You found that school. You're doing what we always did.”  
“You could have come back.”  
“I couldn't.”  
“Why not?”   
He didn’t answer her question, instead choosing to lower his head to get a closer look at K9’s insides. 

Sarah Jane changed the subject. “It wasn't Croydon. Where you dropped me off, that wasn't Croydon.”   
Eris groaned, nudging the Doctor in the ribs. “I told you I didn’t think it was the right place! The coordinates looked completely wrong.”   
“Where was it?” He seemed like he didn’t really want to hear the answer.   
Sarah Jane sighed. “Aberdeen.”  
As Eris smacked her head against the table in frustration, the Doctor frowned.   
“Right. That's next to Croydon, isn't it?”   
Any response was interrupted by a soft whirring noise, which was followed by a stiff movement from K9 as he raised his head.   
“Oh, hey. Now we're in business.”  
“Master.”  
“He recognises me!” The Doctor grinned gleefully  
“Affirmative.”   
Eris jumped out of her seat, patting K9 gently. “Good boy, K9!”  
“Affirmative, Mistress.”

Rose and Mickey joined them, a little more interested now that the robot was actually functioning properly. The Doctor held his hand out for the tube of oil that Rose had collected from the kitchen, and she obliged.   
“I wouldn't touch it, though. That dinner lady got all scorched.”  
“I'm no dinner lady. And I don't often say that.”   
Dipping a finger into the thick oil, he smeared it across the probe feature that represented K9’s nose. “Here we go. Come on, boy. Here we go.”  
K9’s voice was unsteady. “Oil. Ex-ex-ex-extract. Ana-ana-analysing.”  
Mickey snorted. “Listen to him, man. That's a voice.”  
Sarah Jane looked at him reproachfully. “Careful. That's my dog.”  
“Confirmation of analysis. Substance is Krillitane Oil.”  
The Doctor suddenly looked very serious. “They're Krillitanes.”  
“Is that bad?” Eris frowned, she didn’t recognise the name.   
“Very. Think of how bad things could possibly be, and add another suitcase full of bad.”  
Wiping the oil from K9’s sensor, Sarah Jane asked, “And what are Krillitanes?”  
“They're a composite race. Just like your culture is a mixture of traditions from all sorts of countries, people you've invaded or have been invaded by. You've got bits of Viking, bits of France, bits of whatever. The Krillitanes are the same. An amalgam of the races they've conquered. But they take physical aspects as well. They cherry pick the best bits from the people they destroy. That's why I didn't recognise them. The last time I saw Krillitanes, they looked just like us except they had really long necks.”  
“So what do you think they’re doing here?” Rose wrapped her arms around herself.   
The Doctor’s frown deepened. “It's the children. They're doing something to the children.”

Eris and Mickey helped Sarah Jane transfer K9 back to the boot of her car, both of them sensing that Rose wanted to speak to the Doctor alone.   
Mickey had to ask. “So what's the deal with the tin dog?”  
Sarah Jane shrugged. “The Doctor likes travelling with an entourage. Sometimes they're humans, sometimes they're aliens, and sometimes they're tin dogs. What about you? Where do you fit in the picture?”  
“Me? I'm their Man in Havana. I'm the technical support. I'm… Oh, my God. I'm the tin dog.”  
Eris laughed, throwing an arm around his shoulders. “We’d be lost without you, Mickey Smith. And don’t you forget it.” 

“How many of us have there been travelling with you?”  
The Doctor sighed. “Does it matter?”  
Rose huffed. “Yeah, it does, if I'm just the latest in a long line.”  
“As opposed to what? I thought you knew about the others, you must have seen the rooms in your corridor, the other names.”  
“I thought you and me were... I obviously got it wrong. I've been to the year five billion, right, but this? Now this is really seeing the future. You just leave us behind. Is that what you're going to do to me?”  
The Doctor’s tone changed. “No. Not to you.”  
Rose didn’t understand. “But Sarah Jane? You were that close to her once, and now you never even mention her. Why not?”  
“I don't age. I regenerate. But humans decay. You wither and you die. Imagine watching that happen to someone who you-” He stopped, unable to finish the sentence.   
“What, Doctor?”  
He looked at her sadly. “You can spend the rest of your life with me, but I can't spend the rest of mine with you. I have to live on. Alone. That's the curse of the Time Lords.”  
A large, dark shaped creature swept down at them from the rooftops, shrieking wildly. It missed Eris and Mickey by mere centimetres before flying away again, it’s silhouette standing stark against the round swell of the moon.   
Sarah Jane helped Eris up from the floor. “Was that a Krillitane?”  
“But it didn't even touch us, it just flew off.” Frowning, Eris brushed the dirt from her trousers. “What did it do that for?”

The night had been… interesting. Sarah Jane invited them to stay in her home for the night, and the Doctor had accepted immediately. Rose had been very standoffish with everyone, and her mood had only worsened when she walked in on Eris, Sarah Jane and the Doctor deep in conversation about past adventures and roaring with laughter. Mickey was enthralled in the storytelling, and had barely noticed her enter the room. When morning came, the tension was almost stifling and everyone was glad to arrive at the school again and get back to work. The Doctor started giving instructions the moment they got out of the car.   
“Rose and Sarah, you go to the Maths room. Crack open those computers, I need to see the hardware inside. Here, you might need this.” He passed the sonic screwdriver to Sarah, not noticing that Rose had held her hand out to take it too. “Mickey, surveillance. I want you outside.”  
Mickey sounded incredulous. “Just stand outside?”  
Sarah Jane threw him her car keys. “Here, take these - you can keep K9 company.”  
“Don't forget to leave the window open a crack.” The Doctor snorted.   
“But he's metal!”  
“I didn't mean for him.”  
Rose tapped the Doctor’s shoulder. “What're you going to do?”  
Eris answered for him. “It's time we had a word with Mister Finch.”

Of all the places they could have met, they ended up in the school swimming pool. In all fairness, it was the quietest place in the building and the least likely to be disturbed by a nosy student. Finch stood at one end, the Doctor and Eris at the other, separated by a glimmering turquoise rectangle. Silence. The Doctor broke it.   
“Who are you?”  
Finch was fairly civil, almost friendly. “My name is Brother Lassa. And you?”  
“The Doctor. Since when did Krillitanes have wings?”   
“Eris. Why did you come here?”   
The two questions followed each other smoothly, and Finch laughed.   
“My, you two are very synchronised. It's been our form for nearly ten generations now. Our ancestors invaded Bessan. The people there had some rather lovely wings. They made a million widows in one day. Just imagine.”  
The Doctor raised an eyebrow. “And now you're shaped like a human.”  
“A personal favourite, that's all.”  
“And the others?”  
“My brothers remain in bat form. What you see is a simple morphic illusion. Scratch the surface and the true Krillitane lies beneath. And what of the Time Lords? I always thought of you as such a pompous race. Ancient, dusty senators, so frightened of change and chaos. And of course, they're all but extinct. Only you. The last.”   
Eris interrupted his monologue. “This plan of yours. What is it?”  
Finch laughed, before realising that she was serious. “You don't know.”  
“That's why we’re asking.”  
“Well, show me how clever you are. Work it out.”  
The Doctor’s tone hardened. “If I don't like it, then it will stop.”  
Finch looked at the Doctor like he was studying a lab specimen. “Fascinating. Your people were peaceful to the point of indolence. You seem to be something new. Would you declare war on us, Doctor?”   
He glared at Finch. “I'm so old now. I used to have so much mercy. You get one warning. That was it.”  
“But we're not even enemies. Soon you will embrace us. The next time we meet, you will join with me. I promise you.”   
The Doctor turned to leave, but Eris had one last parting shot for the headmaster.   
“Over my dead body.” 

“It's not working.”   
Sarah Jane sighed in annoyance, tapping the sonic screwdriver against her hand before trying it again.   
Rose was becoming gradually more fed up. “Give it to me.”  
“Used to work the first time in my day.”  
“Well, things were a lot simpler back then.”  
Standing up, Sarah Jane crossed her arms. “Rose, can I give you a bit of advice?”  
Rose rolled her eyes. “I've got a feeling you're about to.”  
“I know how intense a relationship with the Doctor can be, and I don't want you to feel I'm intruding.”  
“I don't feel threatened by you, if that's what you mean.”  
“Right. Good. Because I'm not interested in picking up where we left off.”  
Rose scoffed. “No? With the big sad eyes and the robot dog? What else were you doing last night?”  
“I was just saying how hard it was adjusting to life back on Earth.”  
“The thing is, when you two met they'd only just got rid of rationing. No wonder all that space stuff was a bit too much for you.”  
Sarah Jane bristled slightly. “I had no problem with space stuff. I saw things you wouldn't believe.”  
Raising her eyebrows, Rose challenged her. “Try me.”  
“Mummies.”  
“I've met ghosts.”  
“Robots. Lots of robots.”  
"Slitheen, in Downing Street.”  
“Daleks!”  
“Met the Emperor.”  
“Anti-matter monsters.”  
“Gas masked zombies.”  
“Real living dinosaurs.”  
“Real living werewolf.”  
“The Loch Ness Monster!”  
“Seriously?” Rose looked to be in complete shock, and Sarah Jane couldn’t help but laugh. Soon, they were both giggling, and the tension had passed. “Listen to us. It's like me and my mate Shireen. The only time we fell out was over a man, and we're arguing over the Doctor.”

There was a moment of quiet, and then Rose asked a burning question. “With you, did he do that thing where he'd explain something at like, ninety miles per hour, and you'd go, what? and he'd look at you like you'd just dribbled on your shirt?”  
Sarah Jane grinned. “All the time! Does he still stroke bits of the Tardis?”  
“Yeah! Yeah, he does. I'm like, do you two want to be alone?”  
The laughter rose to an almost hysterical level as the Doctor entered the computer lab, baffled by their response.   
“How's it going?”  
More laughter.   
“What? Listen, I need to find out what's programmed inside these.”   
Eris couldn’t stop herself giggling with them as the Doctor got more and more confused.   
“What? Stop it!”

Even the Doctor was having trouble accessing the system - Finch had clearly set it up very cleverly. He sat in front of one of the computer blocks with a bundle of wires looped around his neck, frowning at the interior unit.   
“I can't shift it.”  
Sarah Jane frowned. “I thought the sonic screwdriver could open anything!”  
“Anything except a deadlock seal. There's got to be something inside here. What're they teaching those kids?”   
Sat at one of the computers, Eris jumped back slightly when the screen flared brightly, giving off a harsh green light as the program started to run. A spinning cube filled most of the screen, each of its sides marked with a symbol. Streams of code flowed down the free space of the page, most of it composed of unidentifiable symbols mixed with numbers.   
Looking at the displays, Sarah Jane drew the Doctor’s attention. “You wanted the programme? There it is.”  
He looked up from his work on the hard drives and stood, peering at the display in confusion.  
“Some sort of code.” It took him a moment, and a horrible thought occurred to him. “No. No, that can't be.”  
Eris, who’d been trying to work on the code since it had appeared, glanced over at him.  
“What is it?”   
“The Skasis Paradigm. They're trying to crack the Skasis Paradigm.”  
Sarah Jane pulled a face. “The Skasis what?”  
“The God maker. The universal theory. Crack that equation and you've got control of the building blocks of the universe. Time and space and matter, yours to control.”  
Rose started piecing things together. “What, and the kids are like a giant computer?”  
“Yes. And their learning power is being accelerated by the oil. That oil from the kitchens, it works as a conducting agent. Makes the kids cleverer.”  
She felt slightly sick. “But that oil's on the chips. I've been eating them.”  
The Doctor threw a question at her, testing his theory. “What's fifty nine times thirty five?”  
“Two thousand and sixty five. Oh, my God.”  
Sarah Jane hated the thought. “But why use children? Can't they use adults?”  
Eris abandoned the program and stood. “No, it would have to be children. Think about it, what do gods do? They create. The God maker needs creativity to crack it, imagination. And nobody has a better imagination than a child. They're not just using the children's brains to break the code, they're using their souls.”   
“Let the lesson begin.”   
The four of them turned sharply to face the voice in the doorway. Mr Finch had joined them. 

“Think of it, Doctor. With the Paradigm solved, reality becomes clay in our hands. We can shape the universe and improve it.”  
The Doctor snorted. “Oh yeah? The whole of creation with the face of Mister Finch? Call me old fashioned, but I like things as they are.”  
Finch’s tone was deceptively sweet. “You act like such a radical, and yet all you want to do is preserve the old order? Think of the changes that could be made if this power was used for good.”  
“What, by someone like you?”  
“No, someone like you. The Paradigm gives us power, but you could give us wisdom. Become a God at my side. Imagine what you could do. Think of the civilisations you could save. Perganon, Assinta. Your own people, Doctor, standing tall. The Time Lords - reborn.”  
A silence followed Finch’s statement, and the Doctor appeared to actually be considering the offer.   
“Doctor, don't listen to him.” Sarah Jane rested a hand on his shoulder.   
Finch turned to her. “And you could be with him throughout eternity. Young, fresh, never wither, never age, never die. Their lives are so fleeting. So many goodbyes. How lonely you must be, Doctor. Join us.”  
“I could save everyone.” There was an almost dreamlike tone in the Doctor’s voice.   
“Yes.”  
“I could stop the war.”  
Sarah Jane put herself between Finch and the Doctor. “No. The universe has to move forward. Pain and loss, they define us as much as happiness or love.”   
Eris joined her, squeezing the Doctor’s hand. “Everything has its time, and everything ends someday. It’s not right for something to last forever.”  
Their words and physical contact seemed to break the spell that the Doctor had found himself under and he picked up a chair, throwing it at the large screen at the front of the room and smashing it.   
“Out!”

They bumped into Mickey and one of the students - the Doctor vaguely recalled that the boy’s name was Kenny - at the bottom of the main staircase. Mickey asked, “What is going on?” but before anyone could answer him the harsh sounds of the Krillitanes screeching spurred them into action again. They ran into the canteen, but found themselves unable to leave as the Krillitanes surrounded them.   
Kenny gasped. “Are they my teachers?”  
“Yeah. Sorry.” Eris kept the boy close to her, trying to shield him from the creatures.   
Finch sneered. “We need the Doctor alive. As for the others? You can feast.”  
The group split up and ducked under the tables as the Krillitanes dived for them. One came uncomfortably close to Mickey and Sarah Jane, but was hit by a dazzling red laser beam and dropped heavily to the floor.   
“K9!” Sarah Jane grinned.   
K9 turned in the direction of the exit. “Suggest you engage running mode, mistress.”   
Under the cover of K9’s fire, the Doctor led the rest of them to the doors. “K9, hold them back!”  
“Affirmative, master. Maximum defence mode.”   
And the Doctor sealed the doors behind them. 

They reached the doors to the physics laboratory, the Doctor thinking out loud.   
“It's the oil. Krillitane life forms can't handle the oil. That's it! They've changed their physiology so often, even their own oil is toxic to them. How much was there in the kitchens?”  
Rose realised what he was thinking. “Barrels of it.”  
“Okay, we need to get to the kitchens. Mickey.”  
Mickey rolled his eyes. “What now, hold the coats?”  
Eris stepped in. “Get all the children unplugged and out of the school.”  
The Doctor was deep in thought. “Bats, bats. How do we fight bats?”   
Thinking on his feet, Kenny punched through the glass of the nearest fire alarm box, making it wail repeatedly. Grinning at the distant sounds of the Krillitane screaming in pain, the group split up: the Doctor and Eris heading for the kitchens, Mickey going to the classrooms, and Rose and Sarah Jane getting Kenny to safety outside. 

In the kitchen, the oil barrels were proving to be more difficult to open than the Doctor had hoped.  
“They've been deadlock sealed. Finch must've done that. I can't open them.”  
Eris kicked one of the barrels in annoyance. “What else can we do?”  
K9 piped up from the doorway. “The vats would not withstand a direct hit from my laser, but my batteries are failing. Capacity for only one shot, Master. For maximum impact, I must be stationed directly beside the vat.”   
Realisation dawned on him. “But you'll be trapped inside.”  
“That is correct.”   
Eris crouched next to the little robot. “We can't let you do that.”  
“No alternative possible, Mistress.”   
The Doctor patted him on the head. “Goodbye, old friend.”  
“Goodbye, Master.”  
“You good dog.”  
“Affirmative.”  
Grabbing Eris’ hand, he dragged her out of the kitchen and out into the dazzling sunlight of the day, sealing the doors behind him with the sonic screwdriver. Sarah Jane was waiting for them, and panicked when she realised who was missing.   
“Where's K9? Where is he? What have you done!”   
They ran, joining the throng of children who were bursting from the main doors as they followed Mickey to safety. Everyone was gathered in the car park of the school when the building burst into flames, every window shattering. 

The children clung to each other, celebrating, and Kenny couldn’t help but join in.   
“Yes!”  
One of the girls turned to him. “Did you have something to do with it?”  
He blushed a little. “Yeah, I did.”  
“Oh my God. Kenny blew up the school! It was Kenny!”  
As the children swarmed around him, congratulating him for what he’d done, the Doctor wrapped an arm around Sarah Jane.   
“I'm sorry.”  
She tried to shrug it off. “It's all right. He was just a daft metal dog. It's fine, really.” It didn’t work, and she burst into tears, letting Eris and the Doctor comfort her. 

The Tardis had relocated herself to a nearby park, and Sarah Jane approached it, slightly nervous. It had been years since she’d been inside the wonderful ship. The Doctor opened the doors, leaning out to greet her with a wide smile.  
“Cup of tea?”   
And he backed away, leaving the entrance clear for her.   
She stepped inside and gasped, awestruck. It was so different to what she remembered, but felt almost exactly the same.   
“You've redecorated.”  
Eris grinned, leaning against one of the coral buttresses. “Do you like it?”  
“Oh, I do. Yeah. I preferred it as it was, but er, yeah. It'll do.”  
Rose smiled. “I love it.”  
“Hey, you what's forty seven times three hundred and sixty nine?”  
She shrugged. “No idea. It's gone now. The oil's faded.”  
“But you're still clever. More than a match for him.”  
“You and me both.”   
In the quiet that followed, Eris coughed softly, and the Doctor turned to Sarah Jane, wringing his hands nervously. “Er, we're about to head off, but you could come with us.”  
Sarah Jane smiled gently. “No. I can't do this anymore. Besides, I've got a much bigger adventure ahead. Time I stopped waiting for you and found a life of my own.”  
“Ah.”   
“Can I come?” Everyone turned to look at Mickey, a little confused. “No, not with you, I mean with you, Doctor. Because I'm not the tin dog, and I want to see what's out there.”  
If the smile of Eris’ face was any wider, it would have split in two. “That sounds excellent to me!”   
Sarah Jane grinned too. “Oh, go on, Doctor. Sarah Jane Smith, a Mickey Smith. You need a Smith on board.”  
Shrugging, the Doctor conceded. “Okay then, I could do with a laugh.”  
Mickey looked anxiously at Rose. “Rose, is that okay?”  
“No, great. Why not?” It was obvious that she was lying.   
As Eris pulled Mickey into a hug and started talking about setting up a bedroom, Sarah Jane approached Rose.   
“Well, I'd better go.”  
“What do I do? Do I stay with him?”  
“Yes. Some things are worth getting your heart broken for. Find me, if you need to, one day. Find me.”

Eris and the Doctor joined Sarah Jane outside the Tardis.   
“It's daft, but I haven't ever thanked you for that time. And like I said, I wouldn't have missed it for the world.”   
Eris hugged her, squeezing her tightly. “We had so much fun, didn’t we? And you’ll have plenty of stories for the grandkids.”  
“Oh, I think it'll be someone else's grandkids now.”   
The Doctor looked a little awkward. “Right. Yes, sorry. I didn't get a chance to ask. You haven't.... There hasn't been anyone? You know…”  
Sarah Jane smiled wryly. “Well, there was this one guy. I travelled with him for a while, but he was a tough act to follow. Goodbye, Doctor.”  
“Oh, it's not goodbye.”  
“Do say it. Please. This time. Say it, both of you.”   
Eris went first, kissing her old friend on the cheek and trying to disguise the tears welling in her eyes. “Goodbye.”   
The Doctor lifted her off her feet and spun her around. “Goodbye, my Sarah Jane.”  
The two of them walked back into the Tardis, and Sarah Jane stepped back to watch the ship materialise one more time. As the familiar sound of the engines filled the air and the ship began to fade, her heart leapt as a familiar shape appeared on the ground.   
“K9!”  
The Tardis vanished completely and she crouched by her dog, who was looking far shinier than before.   
“Mistress.”  
“But you were blown up.”  
“The Master rebuilt me. My systems are much improved with new undetectable hyperlink facilities.”   
Happy tears streamed down Sarah Jane’s face. “Oh, he replaced you with a brand new model.”  
“Affirmative.”  
“Yeah, he does that. Come on, you. Home. We've got work to do.”  
“Affirmative.”   
And they set off on their way to Sarah Jane’s house, ready to find the next mystery to investigate. Just like the old days.


	5. The Girl in the Fireplace

Mickey Smith was significantly impressed by the space they had landed in.  
“It's a spaceship. Brilliant! I got a spaceship on my first go!”   
It was incredibly cluttered, with equipment scattered carelessly all over the place and bundles of wiring hanging from the ceiling. Another thing - it seemed almost impossibly quiet.   
Rose frowned. “It looks kind of abandoned. Anyone on board?”  
The Doctor shrugged. “Nah, nothing here. Well, nothing dangerous. Well, not that dangerous. You know what, I'll just have a quick scan, in case there's anything dangerous.”   
Eris rolled her eyes, fiddling with one of the nearby consoles. “Already on it.”   
“So, what's the date? How far have we gone?” Rose peered into the darkness, looking for a window.   
“About three thousand years into your future, give or take.”   
The Doctor spotted a light switch and flicked it, illuminating a transparent portion of the ceiling that offered a view of the space around them. “Fifty first century. Diagmar Cluster, you're a long way from home, Mickey. Two and a half galaxies.”  
Rose grinned. “Mickey Smith, meet the universe. See anything you like?”  
Mickey was staring upwards, gobsmacked. “It's so realistic!”  
Spotting something worrying, Eris got her dad’s attention. “Look at this.”   
He whistled, impressed. “Dear me, had some cowboys in here. Got a ton of repair work going on. Now that's odd. Look at that. All the warp engines are going. Full capacity. There's enough power running through this ship to punch a hole in the universe, but we're not moving. So where's all that power going?”   
Rose had a slightly different question. “Where'd all the crew go?”  
“Good question. No life readings on board.”  
“Well, we're in deep space. They didn't just nip out for a quick fag.”  
“No, I've checked all the smoking pods. Can you smell that?”   
They all paused, sniffing at the air like bloodhounds on a hunting trail.   
“Yeah, someone's cooking.”  
Mickey agreed. “Sunday roast, definitely.”  
Looking a little nauseous, Eris messed with a few more settings on the console and managed to open a door that they hadn’t previously noticed, exposing a new area of the ship. 

Of all the things they had expected to see in the next room along, an ornately decorated fireplace with a roaring fire was very low down on the list.   
The Doctor whistled appreciatively, running a hand along the woodwork. “Well, there's something you don't see in your average spaceship. Eighteenth century. French. Nice mantle. Not a hologram. It's not even a reproduction. This actually is an eighteenth century French fireplace. Double sided. There's another room through there.”  
Rose was peering through a porthole, gazing out into the vast expanse of space.   
“There can't be. That's the outer hull of the ship. Look.”  
But neither the Doctor nor Eris were listening.  
“Hello.”   
On the other side of the fireplace, a young girl with long blonde hair was kneeling before the fire, watching them with great curiosity.   
“Hello.”   
Eris smiled softly at her. “What's your name?”  
“Reinette.”  
The Doctor rested his hands on his knees. “Reinette, that's a lovely name. Can you tell me where you are at the moment, Reinette?”  
Reinette was a little confused. “In my bedroom.”  
“And where's your bedroom? Where do you live, Reinette?”  
She laughed. “Paris, of course.”  
“Paris, right!”  
“Monsieur, Mademoiselle, what are you doing in my fireplace?”  
“Oh, it's just a routine fire check. Can you tell me what year it is?”  
“Of course I can. Seventeen hundred and twenty seven.”   
Eris looked thoughtful. “That’s a pretty good year, if I’m remembering correctly.”   
The Doctor nodded in agreement. “One of my favourites. August is rubbish though. Stay indoors. Okay, that's all for now. Thanks for your help. Hope you enjoy the rest of the fire. Night night.”  
A little incredulous, Reinette simply said, “Goodnight Monsieur. Goodnight Mademoiselle.” 

Mickey stared between the fireplace and the Doctor as he helped Eris to her feet.   
“You said this was the fifty-first century.”  
The Doctor just shrugged. “I also said this ship was generating enough power to punch a hole in the universe. I think we just found the hole. Must be a spatio-temporal hyperlink.”  
“What's that?”  
Snorting, Eris reached into the Doctor’s jacket pocket and borrowed the sonic screwdriver.   
“Sounds like you invented it on the spot.”   
“Yeah, I just made it up. Didn't want to say magic door.” He grinned, stealing his screwdriver back.   
Peering into the fire, Rose said. “And on the other side of the magic door is France in 1727?”  
“Well, she was speaking French. Right period French, too.”  
Mickey shook his head. “She was speaking English, I heard her.”  
Rose grinned at him - they hadn’t told him this bit yet. “That's the Tardis. Translates for you.”  
“Even French?”  
“Yeah.”  
While they’d been chatting, the Doctor had found the gateway mechanism on the fireplace and figured out how to activate it, stepping into place.   
“Gotcha!”   
The fireplace started to rotate and Eris hopped onto the turning plate just in time, ignoring the sound of Rose calling their names as they found themselves in Reinette’s bedroom. 

Her bedroom was almost pitch black, with the only light coming from the moonlight illuminating the snow falling outside. Something - she wasn’t sure what - woke her up. It took Reinette a moment to spot what was out of place in her room, but the moment she saw the figures silhouetted in her window she gasped. Turning, the Doctor did his best to keep her calm.   
“It's okay. Don't scream. It's me. It's the fireplace man. Look. We were talking just a moment ago. We were in your fireplace.”   
He lit the candle by her bedside with the sonic screwdriver. But seeing their faces didn’t seem to make Reinette any calmer.   
“Monsieur, that was weeks ago. That was months.”  
“Really? Oh. Must be a loose connection. Need to get a man in.”  
“Who are you? And what are you doing here?”   
Eris tapped her dad on the shoulder, having noticed something alarming but not wanting to worry Reinette. He frowned down at her in confusion, before realising what she was telling him. The taps were specific. Morse code - clock. Looking over at the mantel, he realised it too. The clock on the mantel had been shattered, but the room was still echoing with a regular ticking noise.   
“Okay, that's scary.”   
Reinette looked at the two of them dubiously. “You're scared of a broken clock?”  
“Just a bit scared, yeah. Just a little tiny bit. Because, you see, if this clock's broken, and it's the only clock in the room, then what's that?” He held up a finger and they all listened, almost hypnotised by the rhythmic tick-tock noise. “Because, you see, that's not a clock. You can tell by the resonance. Too big. Six feet, I'd say. The size of a man.”  
“Mademoiselle, what is it?” Reinette was shaking a little, and Eris sat down on the end of her bed, tucking her legs up under her.   
“Everything’s going to be ok, Reinette. We’re here to help.” 

The Doctor was staring thoughtfully around the room, looking for hiding places.   
“Now, let's think. If you were a thing that ticked and you were hiding in someone's bedroom, first thing you do, break the clock. No one notices the sound of one clock ticking, but two? You might start to wonder if you're really alone... Stay on the bed. Right in the middle. Don't put your hands or feet over the edge.”   
As Eris took Reinette’s hands in hers, squeezing gently, the Doctor knelt by the bed and peered underneath it, aiming the sonic screwdriver into the darkness. Something smacked it out of his hand. He stood up, making eye contact with the thing that had been under the bed.   
“Reinette, don't look round.”   
Relying on her peripheral vision so that she could maintain focus on Reinette, Eris examined the figure. It looked like a man, around six feet tall, dressed in ornate court clothing and a long white wig. But the thing’s humanity ended at the face: instead of skin, a painted porcelain mask with soulless black eyes and a wide smile.   
The Doctor was stern. “You, stay exactly where you are.” He softened his tone as he spoke to Reinette, resting his hands gently on her head. “Hold still, let me look.”  
“You've been scanning her brain. What, you've crossed two galaxies and thousands of years just to scan a child's brain? What could there be in a little girl's mind worth blowing a hole in the universe?”  
“I don't understand. It wants me?” She looked up at the figure. “You want me?”  
The droid’s voice was flat, and very neutral. “Not yet. You are incomplete.”   
Eris frowned. “Incomplete? What's that supposed to mean, incomplete?” It didn’t respond. “You can answer her, so you can answer us. What do you mean, incomplete?”  
In place of an answer, the android walked around the bed and stood opposite the Doctor, wielding a deadly looking blade.   
“Monsieur, be careful!” Reinette gasped as Eris jumped up, shielding him.   
“Just a nightmare, Reinette, don't worry about it. Everyone has nightmares.”  
The android slashed wildly and they both ducked, dodging it and leading it back towards the fireplace.   
“Even monsters from under the bed have nightmares, don't you, monster?”  
It made another swipe at them, missing and getting it’s blade lodged in the wood of the mantelpiece. As it struggled to get free, the Doctor and Eris stood on either side of it, forcing it to stay on the turning section as he tried to activate the mechanism again.   
Reinette watched on in awe. “What do monsters have nightmares about?”  
“Us!” And with a hard thump the Doctor got it to work, sending them rotating back into the 51st century and leaving Reinette alone and safe in her room again. 

Neither Rose nor Mickey had expected the others to return with company, but it was very clear that the android with them wasn’t friendly.   
“Doctor!”   
He grabbed a large tubed piece of machinery from a nearby rack and fired at the android, spraying it with a fine cloud of ice and freezing it on the spot.   
Mickey grinned. “Excellent. Ice gun.”  
Eris examined the thing, turning it over in her hands. “Fire extinguisher, actually.”  
“Where did that thing come from?” Rose was keeping her distance, very aware of the blade extending from the robot’s wrist.   
“Here.”  
“So why is it dressed like that?” Mickey frowned.   
The Doctor shrugged, poking at it’s shoulder. “Field trip to France. Some kind of basic camouflage protocol. Nice needlework, shame about the face.” He removed the wig and mask arrangement, revealing a beautiful piece of clockwork encased in class. “Oh, you are beautiful! No, really, you are. You're gorgeous! Look at that. Space age clockwork, I love it. I've got chills! Listen, seriously, I mean this from the heart, and, by the way, count those, it would be a crime, it would be an act of vandalism to disassemble you.”   
Eris snorted. “But that’s not gonna stop you, is it?”   
“Nope.”   
Unfortunately, in the time he’d spent gushing over how stunning the mechanics were, the android had managed to defrost itself enough to touch it’s hands together and vanish.   
The Doctor groaned. “Short range teleport. Can't have got far. Could still be on board.”  
“What is it?” Rose frowned.   
“Don't go looking for it!”  
“Where're you going?”  
“Back in a sec. Eris, you coming?”   
She shook her head, and he used the fireplace again, leaving them behind.   
Rose lifted the fire extinguisher, getting used to the feel of it in her hands. She and Eris exchanged looks and grinned, starting to move away from the fireplace.   
“He said not to look for it.” Mickey looked between them and the fireplace.   
“Yeah, he did.”   
Catching on, he picked up another fire extinguisher from the rack, and Eris clapped him on the shoulder approvingly.   
“Now you're getting it. Come on.”

This time, the room The Doctor walked into looked as though it belonged to an adult, not a little girl. It was plush, ornate, and very mature.   
“Reinette? Just checking you're okay.”   
He plucked a few notes on a nearby harp, unaware of the woman standing behind him until she cleared her throat.   
“Ahem.”  
“Oh. Hello. Er, I was just looking for Reinette. This is still her room, isn't it? I've been away, not sure how long.”   
She was petite, blonde, and absolutely stunning. As he stared, there was a second woman’s voice in the background.  
“Reinette! We're ready to go.”  
The woman in the room answered. “Go to the carriage, Mother. I will join you there.” She smiled at the Doctor. “It is customary, I think, to have an imaginary friend only during one's childhood. You are to be congratulated on your persistence.”  
He tried to scrape his jaw off the floor and answer politely.   
“Reinette! Well. Goodness, how you've grown.”  
“And you do not appear to have aged a single day. That is tremendously impolite of you. I assume your young brunette friend is also unchanged.”   
He stuttered a little. “Right, yes, sorry. Listen, lovely to catch up, but better be off, eh? Don't want your mother finding you up here with a strange man, do we?”  
Reinette laughed. “Strange? How could you be a stranger to me? I've known you since I was seven years old.”  
“Yeah, I suppose you have. I came the quick route.”   
She stepped closer to him, resting a hand on his shoulder.   
“You seem to be flesh and blood, at any rate, but this is absurd. Reason tells me you cannot be real.”  
“Oh, you never want to listen to reason.”  
From the corridor, a man called out. “Mademoiselle! Your mother grows impatient.”  
“A moment!” She got even closer. “So many questions. So little time.”   
And she kissed him, pushing him towards the wall. He returned the kiss, still a little in shock but very much enjoying the moment.   
“Mademoiselle Poisson!”   
She ended the kiss and ran from the room, leaving the Doctor stunned. The servant entered, and stared at him in shock. But the Doctor had other things on his mind.   
“Poisson? Reinette Poisson? No! No, no, no, no, no way. Reinette Poisson? Later Madame Etoiles? Later still mistress of Louis the Fifteenth, uncrowned Queen of France? Actress, artist, musician, dancer, courtesan, fantastic gardener!”  
“Who the hell are you?!”  
“I'm the Doctor, and I just snogged Madame de Pompadour. Ha, ha!”  
And he activated the fireplace mechanism again, returning to the ship as he cackled. 

“Eris, Rose! Mickey?”   
He rolled his eyes as he realised that he’d returned to an empty room.   
“Every time. Every time, it's rule one. Don't wander off. I tell them, I do. Rule one. There could be anything on this ship.”   
As he walked around the corner, he bumped into a gorgeous white horse, kitted out in a full bridle and saddle. Well, that did count as anything. 

As a kid, Mickey had loved pretending to be James Bond, jumping and rolling everywhere with a toy gun and pretending to shoot the bad guys. So naturally, he couldn’t resist the urge to drop and roll around every corner, wielding the fire extinguisher. The girls found it hilarious. His confidence was a little shaken as he looked up into a camera, and an eyeball blinked back at him.   
“Are you looking at me?”  
Rose came back to the section of the corridor, whistling to draw Eris over to join them.   
“Look at this. That's an eye in there. That's a real eye.” Mickey gagged a little.   
Frowning, Eris tapped against a hatch on the bulkhead, a bad feeling rising inside her. She unlatched it and tugged it open, wincing slightly at the heat. Rose crouched to peer inside the hole before recoiling a little.   
“Oh my God.”   
Mickey stared into the space too. “What is that? What's that in the middle there? Looks like it's wired in.”  
“It's a heart, Mickey. It's a human heart.”   
Disturbed, the trio closed the hatch again and walked away.   
He couldn’t help but speculate. “Maybe it wasn't a real heart.”  
“Course it was a real heart.”  
“Is this like normal for you? Is this an average day?”  
Eris grinned. “Life with the Doctor, Mickey? No more average days.”   
The three of them stopped by a large, floor to ceiling window that looked into an ornate room, adorned in gold and velvet.   
Mickey stared. “It's France again. We can see France.”  
Rose tapped at the glass. “I think we're looking through a mirror.”   
As they watched, three men walked into the room. The one in the centre was clearly being flanked by the two at his sides, and he walked with an air of self importance.   
“Blimey, look at this guy. Who does he think he is?”

“The King of France.”   
The sound of the Doctor’s voice behind them made them jump.   
Eris nudged him in the ribs. “Oh, here's trouble.”  
Rose grinned. "What have you been up to?”  
He shrugged. “Oh, this and that. Became the imaginary friend of a future French aristocrat, picked a fight with a clockwork man.” Unbelievably, they heard a neigh in the background. “Oh, and I met a horse.”   
And sure enough, there was a white horse standing in the corridor behind them.   
Mickey pulled a face. “What's a horse doing on a spaceship?”  
“Mickey, what's pre-Revolutionary France doing on a spaceship? Get a little perspective. See these? They're all over the place. On every deck. Gateways to history. But not just any old history.”   
As the King’s men left the room, a beautiful blonde woman entered and curtseyed gracefully.   
The Doctor continued. “Hers. Time windows deliberately arranged along the life of one particular woman. A spaceship from the fifty-first century stalking a woman from the eighteenth. Why?”  
Rose watched the two interact. “Who is she?”  
“Jeanne-Antoinette Poisson, known to her friends as Reinette. One of the most accomplished women who ever lived.”  
Gasping, Eris grabbed his wrist. “Reinette Poisson? Why didn’t you tell me?”   
“I didn’t get the chance! I only realised when I went through again, and you weren’t there when I came back!”   
Interrupting the argument, Rose said, “So has she got plans of being the Queen, then?”  
“No, he's already got a Queen. She's got plans of being his mistress.”  
“Oh, I get it. Camilla.”  
She and Mickey cracked up over her joke as the Doctor continued.   
“I think this is the night they met. The night of the Yew Tree ball. In no time at flat, she'll get herself established as his official mistress, with her own rooms at the palace. Even her own title. Madame de Pompadour.”  
The King left Reinette alone in the room and she turned to examine herself in the mirror, smoothing out her dress.   
Rose raised an eyebrow. “The Queen must have loved her.”   
Eris didn’t quite catch the sarcasm in Rose’s tone. “Oh, she did. They get on very well.”  
Mickey looked at her, incredulous. “The King's wife and the King's girlfriend?”  
The Doctor shrugged. “France. It's a different planet.”

The constant ticking of the clock was a comfort to Reinette, easing her mind - until she realised that the only clock in the room had been shattered. Turning, she saw a woman in the far corner of the room, facing the window.   
“How long have you been standing there? Show yourself!”   
She turned, revealing the face of one of the clockwork androids. The Doctor snatched the fire extinguisher from Mickey and swung the mirror forwards, creating a doorway.   
“Hello, Reinette. Hasn't time flown?”  
“Fireplace man!”   
He rushed past Reinette and sprayed the android, passing the extinguisher back to Mickey as the robot creaked and whirred, frozen on the spot.   
Mickey frowned. “What's it doing?”  
“Switching back on. Melting the ice.” The Doctor sounded fairly calm.   
“And then what?”  
“Then it kills everyone in the room.” The android lunged forwards with a serrated blade, aiming for the Doctor’s throat. It would have sunk into the skin had Eris not yanked him back by the collar of his coat. “Focuses the mind, doesn't it? Thank you.”  
“No problem.”  
“Who are you? Identify yourself.” He turned to Reinette. “Order it to answer me.”  
She blinked, confused. “Why should it listen to me?”  
“I don't know. It did when you were a child. Let's see if you've still got it.”  
“Answer his question. Answer any and all questions put to you.”  
The droid, in it’s curled white wig and wide hipped dress, answered mechanically.   
“I am repair droid seven.”  
The Doctor kept up the questioning. “What happened to the ship, then? There was a lot of damage.”  
“Ion storm. Eighty two percent systems failure.”  
“That ship hasn't moved in over a year. What's taken you so long?”  
“We did not have the parts.”   
Mickey laughed. “Always comes down to that, doesn't it? The parts.”  
Eris frowned, a dreadful suspicion settling in her stomach. “What's happened to the crew? Where are they?”  
“We did not have the parts.”  
The Doctor nodded. “There should have been over fifty people on your ship. Where did they go?”  
“We did not have the parts.”  
“Fifty people don't just disappear. Where…” And the penny dropped. “Oh. You didn't have the parts, so you used the crew.”  
Mickey gulped. “The crew?”  
Rose’s voice shook slightly. “We found a camera with an eye in it, and there was a heart wired into machinery.”  
The Doctor sighed. “It was just doing what it was programmed to. Repairing the ship any way it can, with whatever it could find. No one told it the crew weren't on the menu. What did you say the flight deck smelled of?”  
“Someone cooking.”  
“Flesh plus heat. Barbeque. But what are you doing here? You've opened up time windows. That takes colossal energy. Why come here? You could have gone to your repair yard. Instead you come to eighteenth century France? Why?”  
The droid turned to look at Reinette. “One more part is required.”  
“Then why haven't you taken it?”  
“She is incomplete.”  
“What, so, that's the plan, then. Just keep opening up more and more time windows, scanning her brain, checking to see if she's done yet.”  
Moving a little closer to Reinette, Eris asked, “Why her? You've got all of history to choose from. Why specifically her?”  
“We are the same.”  
Reinette’s anger was explosive. “We are not the same. We are in no sense the same!”  
“We are the same.”  
“Get out of here. Get out of here this instant!”  
Before the Doctor could interrupt, the android activated its teleport mechanism and vanished.   
“It's back on the ship. Rose, take Mickey and Arthur. Get after it. Follow it. Don't approach it, just watch what it does.”  
Rose looked up at him. “Arthur?”  
“Good name for a horse.”   
She rolled her eyes. “No, you're not keeping the horse.”  
“I let you keep Mickey. Now go! Go! Go!”  
Eris closed the mirror-door behind them as they left, turning to the Doctor as she did so.   
“I’ll keep an eye out, see if any more of them turn up here.”   
As she walked into the next room, the Doctor approached Reinette. “Reinette, you're going to have to trust me. I need to find out what they're looking for. There's only one way I can do that. It won't hurt a bit.” When she nodded, he rested his fingertips on either side of her head, pressing very gently as he linked their thoughts.   
Reinette gasped. “Fireplace man, you are inside my mind.”  
“Oh dear, Reinette. You've had some cowboys in here.”

“You are in my memories. You walk among them.”  
“If there's anything you don't want me to see, just imagine a door and close it. I won't look. Oh, actually there's a door just there. You might want to… Oh, actually, several.”  
She managed a slight laugh. “To walk among the memories of another living soul. Do you ever get used to this?”  
“I don't make a habit of it.”  
“How can you resist?”   
The Doctor frowned. “What age are you?”  
Reinette smirked. “So impertinent a question so early in the conversation. How promising.”  
“No, not my question, theirs. You're twenty three and for some reason, that means you're not old enough. Sorry, you might find old memories reawakening. Side effect.”  
Her face screwed up a little as the memories began to flow. “Oh, such a lonely childhood.”  
“It'll pass. Stay with me.”  
“Oh, Doctor. So lonely. So very, very alone.”  
The Doctor opened his eyes, suddenly confused. “What do you mean, alone? You've never been alone in your life. When did you start calling me Doctor?”  
She looked him in the eyes, seeing much more than anyone else had in a long time.   
“Such a lonely little boy. Lonely then and lonelier now. How can you bear it?”  
He broke the link.   
“How did you do that?”  
“A door, once opened, can be stepped through in either direction. Oh, Doctor. My lonely Doctor. Dance with me.”  
“I can't.”  
“Dance with me.”  
“This is the night you dance with the King.”  
She didn’t seem too bothered by that fact. “Then first, I shall make him jealous.”  
“I can't.”  
“Doctor. Doctor who? It's more than just a secret, isn't it?”  
His voice was serious. “What did you see?”  
“That there comes a time, Time Lord, when every lonely little boy must learn how to dance.”   
He still looked a little dubious, and Reinette laid a hand on his arm. “I would dance with you both, Doctor, if you will let me. Two lonely souls, hers and yours, may have found each other, but that does not mean you cannot let another person in. Please.”   
Eris looked around the doorway, and Reinette walked over to her.   
“I have a request.”   
“What is it?”   
“Dance with me.”   
Glancing over at her dad, and seeing the indecision in his eyes, Eris made the choice for them.  
“Of course I will.”   
He joined them, allowing Reinette to lead them towards the party.   
“This is a bad idea.”  
Eris rolled her eyes at him. “Everything we ever do is a bad idea, and it usually turns out alright. Rose and Mickey will be fine without us a bit longer. Come on, let’s have some fun.” 

As it happened, Rose and Mickey were anything but fine. They’d both been knocked unconscious - for how long, they had no idea - and had woken up surrounded by the masked androids, each strapped to a slanted surgical table.   
“What's going on? Doctor?”  
Mickey was audibly terrified. “Rose? They're going to chop us up, just like the crew. They're going to chop us up and stick us all over their stupid spaceship. And where's the Doctor? Where's the precious Doctor now? He's been gone for flipping hours, that's where he is!”  
The droid that spoke to them had a voice that was just as flat as the others.  
“You are compatible.”  
Trying to stop her voice shaking, Rose put on a brave front.   
“Well, you might want to think about that. You really, really, might, because me and Mickey, we didn't come here alone. Oh no. And trust me, you wouldn't want to mess with our designated driver.”   
A wickedly sharp blade extended from the android’s wrist.   
“Ever heard of the Daleks? Remember them? They had a name for our friend. They had myths about him, and a name. They called him the-”  
A sudden crash, followed by a series of bangs, interrupted her. These noises were accompanied by off-key singing and giggles tinged with hysteria. 

“I could've danced all night, I could've danced all night..”   
The Doctor and Eris stumbled into the room, leaning heavily on each other and swaying. They were both wearing sunglasses, carrying goblets full of wine, and the Doctor’s tie was around his head. It was the Doctor they could hear singing badly, while Eris was practically hanging off his shoulder.  
“And still have begged for more. I could've spread my wings and done a thou- Have you met the French? My god, they know how to party.”   
Rose groaned. “Oh, look at what the cat dragged in. The Oncoming Storm.”  
Eris hiccupped. “You sound just like your mother.”  
“What've you been doing? Where've you been?”  
The Doctor grinned. “Well, among other things, I think I just invented the banana daiquiri a few centuries early. Do you know, they've never even seen a banana before. Always take a banana to a party, Rose. Bananas are good.” He approached the android that was standing between the two beds. “Oh ho, ho, ho, ho, brilliant. It's you. You're my favourite, you are. You are the best! Do you know why? Because you're so thick. You're Mister Thick Thick Thickity Thick Face from Thicktown, Thickania. And so's your dad!”  
Eris stumbled slightly over a piece of equipment and leant against Mickey’s table. “Do you know what they were scanning Reinette's brain for? Her milometer. They want to know how old she is. Know why? Because this ship is thirty seven years old, and they think that when Reinette is thirty seven, when she's complete, then her brain will be compatible.”  
“So, that's what you're missing, isn't it, hmm? Command circuit. Your computer. Your ship needs a brain. And for some reason, God knows what, only the brain of Madame de Pompadour will do.” The Doctor nodded, wobbling a little.   
The droid seemed to be ignoring their antics. “The brain is compatible.”  
“Compatible? If you believe that, you probably believe this is a glass of wine.”   
Raising the goblet high, the Doctor poured the contents into the clockwork under the mask. It seized up where it stood. Pushing his sunglasses up onto his head, the Doctor suddenly sounded far more sober than he had done.   
“Multigrain anti-oil. If it moves, it doesn't.”   
Doing the same to one of the other androids, Eris stretched over its prone form and swatted at the off switch, deactivating the rest of the robots in the room. 

Finding the lock release, the Doctor freed Rose and Mickey from the tables.   
“Right, you two, that's enough lying about. It’s about time we got the rest of the ship turned off.”  
Mickey watched the androids warily. “Are those things safe?”  
“Yeah. Safe. Safe and thick, the way I like them. Okay. All the time windows are controlled from here. I need to close them all down. Zeus plugs. Where are my Zeus plugs?”   
Eris lobbed them at him from across the room, grinning as he fumbled to catch them.  
“You gave them to me so I could use them as castanets while you were impressing everyone with the banana.”  
Rose joined him at the controls. “Why didn't they just open a time window to when she was thirty seven?”  
“With the amount of damage to these circuits, they did well to hit the right century. Trial and error after that. The windows aren't closing. Why won't they close?” A bell rang as the Doctor did his best to sort the teleport link.   
“What's that?”  
“I don't know. Incoming message?”  
“From who?” Mickey frowned.   
The Doctor groaned. “Report from the field. One of them must still be out there with Reinette. That's why I can't close the windows. There's an override.”  
Next to him, the first android switched itself back on and directed a thin stream of the anti-oil at the Doctor’s shoes.   
“Well, that was a bit clever.”  
The off switch moved itself to on.   
“Right. Many things about this are not good. Message from one of your little friends? Anything interesting?”  
The droid cocked its head. “She is complete. It begins.”  
And all the androids teleported away.   
Rose looked around them. “What's happening?”  
Running a hand through his hair, the Doctor grimaced.   
“One of them must have found the right time window. Now it's time to send in the troops. And this time they're bringing back her head.”

Rose really, really hoped that she was in the right place. Eris had directed her to this particular time window, explaining that it was the closest one they could find to the actual window they needed. Reinette was sitting at the piano, not playing, her fingers simply resting against the keys.   
“Madame de Pompadour.” The woman gasped. “Please, don't scream or anything. We haven't got a lot of time. I've come to warn you that they'll be here in five years.”  
“Five years?”  
“Some time after your thirty seventh birthday. I er, I can't give you an exact date. It's a bit random. But they're coming. It's going to happen. In a way, for us, it's already happening. I'm sorry, it's hard to explain. The Doctor does this better.”  
Reinette sighed. “Then be exact, and I will be attentive.”  
“There isn't time.”  
“There are five years.”  
“For you. I haven't got five minutes.”  
“Then also be concise.”  
Rose took a deep breath, trying to figure out how to explain the situation.  
“Er, there's, say, a vessel, a ship, a sort of sky ship, and it's full of, well, you. Different bits of your life in different rooms, all jumbled up. I told you it was complicated. Sorry.”  
Reinette stared blankly at her, bewildered and a little angry.   
“There is a vessel in your world where the days of my life are pressed together like the chapters of a book, so that he may step from one to the other without increase of age while I, weary traveller, must always take the slower path.”  
A smile twitched at Rose’s lips. “He was right about you.”  
“So, in five years these creatures will return. What can be done?”  
“The Doctor says keep them talking. They're kind of programmed to respond to you now. You won't be able to stop them, but you might be able to delay them a bit.”  
“Until?”  
“Until the Doctor can get there.”  
“He's coming, then?”  
“He promises.”  
Reinette looked a little disappointed. “But he cannot make his promises in person?”  
“He'll be there when you need him. That's the way it's got to be.”  
“It's the way it's always been. The monsters and the Doctor. It seems you cannot have one without the other.”  
Rose laughed. “Tell me about it. The thing is, you weren't supposed to have either. Those creatures are messing with history. None of this was ever supposed to happen to you.”   
This seemed to annoy Reinette.   
“Supposed to happen? What does that mean? It happened, child, and I would not have it any other way. One may tolerate a world of demons for the sake of an angel.”  
Mickey’s voice was suddenly audible, quite close by.   
“Rose? Rose?”

The tapestry that Rose had entered France through fluttered a little, and Mickey’s head appeared in the gap.   
“Rose! The time window where she's thirty seven. We found it. Right under our noses.”   
He held the fabric out of the way so Rose could come back to the ship, but Reinette pushed her way through first.   
Rose tried to stop her. “No, you can't go in there, the Doctor will go mad--”  
Too late.   
“So, this is his world.” Reinette gazed around the corridor, taking in the sight of the metal and the lights. Distant screams made her heart sink.   
“What was that?”  
Mickey shuddered a little. “The time window. The Doctor fixed an audio link.”  
“Those screams. Is that my future?”  
Rose rested a comforting hand on her arm. “Yeah. I'm sorry.”  
“Then I must take the slower path.”  
There was a familiar voice. “Are you there? Can you hear me? I need you now. You promised. The clock on the mantel is broken. It is time.”  
“That's my voice.”   
Mickey started to walk away. “Rose, come on. We've got to go. There's… there's a problem.”  
“Give me a moment.”  
He left them there, and Rose looked at Reinette.   
“Are you okay?”  
“No. I'm very afraid. But you and I both know, don't we, Rose, the Doctor is worth the monsters.”  
And the woman ducked back through the tapestry, returning to her own time. 

The correct window was in the same room as the Tardis, and when Rose came back to it Eris and the Doctor were working furiously with large clumps of wiring.   
“You found it, then?”  
The Doctor grimaced. “They knew I was coming. They blocked it off.”  
“I don't get it. How come they got in there?”  
“They teleported. You saw them. As long as the ship and the ballroom are linked, their short range teleports will do the trick.”  
“Well, we'll go in the Tardis!”   
Eris shook her head. “We can't use the Tardis. We're part of events now.”  
Mickey was trying to come up with helpful ideas. “Well, can't we just smash through?”  
“Hyperplex this side, plate glass the other. We would need a truck.”  
“We don't have a truck.”  
Not looking up from his work, the Doctor shouted. “I know we don't have a truck!”  
Rose shrugged. “Well, we've got to try something.”  
“No. Smash the glass, smash the time window. There'd be no way back.”  
Through the audio link, they heard the screaming die down a little as Reinette started talking. 

“Could everyone just calm down? Please. Such a commotion. Such distressing noise. Kindly remember that this is Versailles. This is the Royal Court, and we are French.”   
She turned to look at the droids that were holding her. “I have made a decision. And my decision is no, I shall not be going with you today. I have seen your world, and I have no desire to set foot there again.”  
One droid stepped out in front of her, exposing it’s blade. “We do not require your feet.”  
Two more of the androids pushed Reinette down onto her knees. She stayed surprisingly calm.   
“You think I fear you, but I do not fear you even now. You are merely the nightmare of my childhood. The monster from under my bed. And if my nightmare can return to plague me, then rest assured, so will yours.”   
Distant echoes of a horse’s hooves grew in volume and clarity with every second, and the mirror on the far wall smashed as the Doctor broke through it, riding on the back of the horse that he’d found on the ship. He grinned at Reinette, dismounting as soon as it was safe to do so.   
“Madame de Pompadour. You look younger every day.”  
The King stared at him in disbelief.   
“What the hell is going on?”  
Maintaining the manners she’d been raised with, Reinette made introductions.  
“Oh. This is my lover, the King of France.”  
The Doctor scoffed. “Yeah? Well, I'm the Lord of Time, and I'm here to fix the clock.”  
Leaning over, he removed the mask from the closest android, ignoring the threat of it’s blade.   
“Forget it. It's over. For you and for me. Talk about seven years of bad luck. Try three thousand.”   
He looked over his shoulder. In place of the mirror was a solid brick wall. 

On the ship, the trio stared at the wall in shock. Mickey broke the silence.   
“What happened? Where did the time window go? How's he going to get back?”   
A single tear ran down Rose’s cheek, and she turned to Eris.   
“We can go and get him in the Tardis, can’t we?”   
Eris shook her head.   
“We have to wait.”   
“Why?!”   
“Like I said earlier, we’re part of the timeline so we can’t take the Tardis in. Just trust me. He’ll get back.” 

The Doctor continued. “The link with the ship is broken. No way back. You don't have the parts. How many ticks left in that clockwork heart, huh? A day? An hour? It's over. Accept that. I'm not winding you up.”   
The androids started to wind down, their clockwork slowing down before grinding to a halt. One fell to the ground and shattered, fine coppery cogs spilling out over the wooden floor. He helped Reinette up.   
“You all right?”   
“What's happened to them?”  
“They've stopped. They have no purpose now.”

Night had fallen. Reinette and the Doctor stood by a window with glasses of wine - real this time, not anti-oil - looking up at the sky.   
Reinette smiled softly. “You know all their names, don't you? I saw that in your mind. The name of every star.”  
“What's in a name? Names are just titles. Titles don't tell you anything.”  
“Like the Doctor.”  
He laughed. “Like Madame de Pompadour.”  
“I have often wished to see those stars a little closer. Just as you have, I think.”  
“From time to time.”  
Her voice became more serious.  
“In saving me, you trapped yourself. Did you know that would happen?”  
“Mmm. Pretty much.”  
“Yet, still you came.”  
This time, his laugh was a little less genuine. “Yeah, I did, didn't I? Catch me doing that again.”  
“There were many doors between my world and yours. Can you not use one of the others?”  
“When the mirror broke, the shock would have severed all the links with the ship. There'll be a few more broken mirrors and torn tapestries around here, I'm afraid, wherever there was a time window. I'll, I'll pay for any damage. Er, that's a thought, I'm going to need money. I was always a bit vague about money. Where do you get money?”   
As she watched the reality of his situation sink in, Reinette’s heart sank.   
“So, here you are, my lonely angel, stuck on the slow path with me.”  
“Yep, the slow path. Here's to the slow path.”   
He raised his glass for a toast, and she joined him, hoping she wouldn’t regret what she was about to do.   
“It's a pity. I think I would've enjoyed the slow path.”  
“Well, I'm not going anywhere.”  
“Oh, aren't you? Take my hand.”  
Confused, he allowed her to lead him to her bedroom, a little apprehensive about where this was going. But he understood her intentions the moment they entered the room. 

The fireplace.   
Reinette took him right to it. “It's not a copy, it's the original. I had it moved here and was exact in every detail.”  
“The fireplace. The fireplace from your bedroom. When did you do this?”  
“Many years ago, in the hope that a door once opened, may someday open again. One never quite knows when one needs one's Doctor. It appears undamaged. Do you think it will still work?”  
He ran a hand along the wood, knocking in strategic places.  
“You broke the bond with the ship when you moved it, which means it was offline when the mirror broke. That's what saved it. But the link is basically physical, and it's still physically here. Which might just mean, if I'm lucky. If I'm very, very, very, very, very, very lucky…”  
There was a hollow sound, and he grinned.   
“Ah ha!”  
“What?”  
“Loose connection. Need to get a man in.” Using the sonic and giving the mantel a quick thump, he cheered internally as the mechanism clunked into action.   
“Wish me luck!”  
“No.”  
The sadness in Reinette’s eyes made his own smile drop as the fireplace turned, taking him back. 

As soon as he was back on solid ground, he knelt by the fireplace.   
“Madame de Pompadour!” She knelt on the other side of the fire, gazing hopefully at him. “Still want to see those stars?”  
“More than anything.”  
“Give me two minutes. Pack a bag.”  
“Am I going somewhere?”  
“Go to the window. Pick a star, any star.”   
She realised what he was offering and ran to pack her things, leaving the Doctor to go and find his way back to the Tardis. 

The Doctor grinned, picking Rose up off the floor and hugging her.  
“How long did you wait?”  
“Five and a half hours.”  
“Great. Always wait five and a half hours.”   
He shook Mickey’s hand and pulled Eris in for a hug too.  
“You good?”   
She grinned. “Yeah, fine. I knew you’d be back.”   
He blinked. “How? I didn’t.”   
“That’s 1758 through that window, right?” He nodded. “Well, in 1761, I was living in Italy and already scouting out where I was going to move to next. I wanted to look around France, and ended up in Versailles - perks of having good contacts. I met Reinette.”   
“You never said!”   
“It wasn’t important. It happened years after all this did. But when you broke the mirror I remembered something she’d said to me when we met. She said I reminded her of an old friend. I think she knew that this hadn’t happened for us yet, she would understand that given what she saw in your mind. But the important thing is - you weren’t there. And I would have known if you were there. So I knew you’d get back to us safely.”   
The Doctor squeezed her tight once more.   
“You… you’re just brilliant. Now, all of you, into the Tardis. I’ll be with you in a tick. 

He ran to the fireplace once again, stepping out into a darkened bedroom.   
“Reinette? You there, Reinette?”   
The place was oddly quiet. He walked into the hallway, looking for her.   
“Reinette? Oh, hello.”   
The King was standing by one of the windows, looking out into the rainy afternoon.   
“You just missed her. She'll be in Paris by six.”  
“Ah.”  
He did a double take. “Good Lord. She was right. She said you never looked a day older. So many years since I saw you last, but not a day of it on your face.” Walking over to a set of drawers, the King took out a sealed letter and handed it to the Doctor.   
“She spoke of you many times. Often wished you'd visit again. You know how women are.”  
From outside, they could hear the sound of hooves striking wet ground.   
“There she goes.”  
They both watched the hearse pull out of the palace gates.   
“Leaving Versailles for the last time. Only forty three when she died. Too young. Too young. Illness took her in the end. She always did work too hard. What does she say?”   
The Doctor didn’t answer, tucking the unopened letter inside his jacket instead.   
“Of course. Quite right.”

There was still one thing that Rose didn’t quite understand. “Why her? Why did they think they could repair the ship with the head of Madame de Pompadour?”  
The Doctor shrugged, his voice flat. “We'll probably never know. There was massive damage in the computer memory banks. It probably got confused. The Tardis can close down the time windows now the droids are gone. Should stop it causing any more trouble.”  
“Are you alright?”  
“I'm always alright.”   
It was blatantly obvious to everyone in the room that he was lying, but none of them knew what to say to change it.   
Mickey nudged Rose, sensing that the Doctor probably didn’t want to have an audience at the moment. “Come on, Rose. It's time you showed me around the rest of this place.”  
As they left, the Doctor unsealed his letter.   
Eris squeezed her dad’s shoulder soothingly. “Do you want to be on your own?”  
“I… No. Can you get us ready to go?”   
“Sure.”   
She started setting the controls, glancing back every now and again to see his reaction to the letter. Adjusting the final dial, she stepped back, leaving two things for him to do: shut the connection in the fireplace down, and start their flight. The Doctor tucked the letter into an inside pocket, grim-faced, and completed the last steps of the disconnection, watching the fire fade away in the grate. And with one final lever, the Tardis dematerialised, taking them far away from the other ship.   
“Come on.” Eris offered him a hand. “You look like you could use a cuppa.”   
He managed a slight smile, “Go on then.” and accepted, letting her lead him away from the console into the depths of the Tardis.


	6. Rise of the Cybermen

Stretching the cramp out of her hand, Eris closed her 500 year diary and laid back against her pillows. Her eyes itched. She hadn’t had the chance to write in it for a few adventures so there was lots to describe. There were a few drawings in there too: one of Sarah Jane and K9, one of Reinette, and a handful of sketches of random bits of scenery that had stuck in her mind. She couldn’t stay still for very long though, and was soon pacing around her bedroom, arms crossed around her as she drummed against her ribs. Her mind was racing; that’s all it ever seemed to do these days. In every quiet moment, her brain would return to the same topic - what she’d learned on the Game Station. 

It was exhausting. She was no closer to understanding the information than she had been on the day that it had popped into her head. Deciding she needed a distraction, she went to her bookshelves. They were full of memories, things that she’d chosen or had given to her that commemorated experiences from long ago. Some of them were just knots of wire that had been ripped from spaceship walls, but they had meaning. Having something tangible made remembering the past so much easier, especially given that there was so much to sift through. 

There were seven shelves between the floor and the ceiling. Each one was either half or three quarters filled with books, grouped by author or title. The rest of the space was taken up by the mementos. A rectangular, felt lined box sat on the middle shelf next to Sergeant Benton’s beret: inside it was the cat pin, the question mark pin and the pocket watch that had been her dad’s, along with his old monocle and the fragments of a blue and gold star badge. The bottom shelf held a cricket bat and an umbrella with a cherry red question mark handle - none of the other shelves had enough room for those. The floppy brown hat and mile-long scarf from dad’s fourth body were tucked into the corner of the fifth shelf, at the opposite end to a large jumble of wires and circuits. Most of the items on the seventh shelf were large, like the arm of a Taran android and the Dalekanium plate. Shelf three was almost completely filled by books, and adorned with small trinket pieces - coins, pieces of jewellery, that sort of thing. Two and six contained things that past companions had gifted her. Flowers that she’d then pressed and dried, sketchbooks and paints and pencil sets, birthday cards. The birthday cards were her favourite: she’d never told any of them her birthday but Sarah Jane, Peri, and Ace had all insisted on getting her a birthday card at some point. The UNIT team had done cards too. Every card had been sent on a completely different date, and none of them were right. She treasured them all.

Snapping out of her memories, the sound of raucous laughter from the console room made her smile, and she decided to join the others. Festering in her thoughts alone was never the wisest of ideas. 

“And that weird munchkin lady with the big eyes? Do you remember? the way she looked at you! And then she opens her mouth and fire comes out!” The Doctor was howling with laughter, leaning against Rose as she wheezed in the seat next to him.   
“I thought I was going to get frazzled!”  
“Yeah. One minute she's standing there, and the next minute roar!”  
Mickey grinned, standing over at the console.   
“Yeah. where was that, then? What happened?”  
Their laughter died down a little, and the Doctor tugged awkwardly at his ear.  
“Oh, it was on this er, this er planet thing. Asteroid. It's a long story, you had to be there. Er, what're you doing that for?”  
Mickey glanced down at where his finger was holding down a button on the console.  
“Because you told me to.”  
“When was that?”  
“About half an hour ago…”  
“Er, you can let go now.”  
“Well, how long's it been since I could've stopped?”  
The Doctor stifled a smirk. “Ten minutes? Twenty? Twenty nine?”  
“You just forgot me!”  
“No, no, no. I was just, I was, I was calibrating. I was just. No, I know exactly what I'm doing.”   
He had barely finished his sentence when the time rotor exploded. 

All three of them were thrown to the floor by the force of the blast, and kept there by the turbulence that followed. The Doctor crawled his way to the scanner, eyes wide as he checked the readout.   
“The time vortex is gone. That's impossible. It's just gone. Brace yourself! We're going to crash!”   
The Tardis came to a sudden, bumpy stop and the console room went dark. The Doctor was vaguely aware of the gas masks hanging from the ceiling when realisation struck. He didn’t know where Eris was. Panicking, he tried to get back on his feet by himself when a pair of hands settled in the middle of his back, pushing gently upwards to keep him stable. He turned, relaxing at the sight of his daughter, before worrying again at the sight of a painful looking graze on her arm.   
“Are you alright?”   
She nodded. “Yeah, I’ve had much worse. Scraped it on the wall as I was trying to get to you. But what happened?”   
With a gesture that clearly meant ‘I’ll explain soon’, he moved to check on the others.   
“Everyone all right? Rose? Mickey?”   
Mickey rubbed his head. “I'm fine. I'm okay. Sorry. Yeah.”   
Rose nodded too, moving to stand by the console as the Doctor tried to get a response out of the scanner.   
“She's dead. The Tardis is dead.”  
“But you can fix it?”   
He shook his head. “There's nothing to fix. She's perished. The last Tardis in the universe. Extinct.”  
“We can get help, yeah?”  
“Where from?”  
Rose shrugged. “Well, we've landed. We've got to be somewhere.”  
A note of melancholy crept into the Doctor’s tone.   
“We fell out of the vortex, through the void, into nothingness. We're in some sort of no place. The silent realm. The lost dimension.”   
Movement in the corner of her eye caught Eris’ attention as Mickey opened the Tardis doors, sticking his head outside. He turned back in to look at them, grinning.   
“Otherwise known as London.”

The four of them exited the Tardis to find themselves near Lambeth pier. Spotting a discarded newspaper on a bench, Mickey picked it up.   
“London, England, Earth. Hold on. First of February this year. Not exactly far flung, is it?”   
Eris took in their surroundings, and something quickly caught her eye.   
“So this is London.”  
“Yep.”  
“Your city.”  
“That's the one.”  
“Just as we left it.”  
“Bang on.”   
Unable to keep the smile off her face, she pointed up.   
“And that includes the Zeppelins?”   
Mickey and Rose stared open mouthed at the sight above them; the sky was full of giant grey air balloons.   
“What the hell?”  
“That's beautiful.”   
Mickey shrugged. “Okay, so it's London with a big international Zeppelin festival.”  
The Doctor shook his head. “This is not your world.”  
“But if the date's the same, it's parallel, right? Am I right? Like a parallel Earth where they've got Zeppelins. Am I right? I'm right, aren't I?”   
Eris grinned, throwing an arm around his shoulders. “Ten points to Mickey Smith! That’s got to be it, right dad?”   
He hummed. “Must be.”  
Something caught Rose’s eyes and her heart stopped. “So, a parallel world where…”  
Mickey was getting more excited by the second.  
“Oh, come on. You've seen it in films. Like an alternative to our world where everything's the same but a little bit different, like, I don't know, traffic lights are blue, Tony Blair never got elected.”  
“And he's still alive.”  
Less than 10 metres away from them, a full sized advert for a health drink called Vitex Lite stunned them all into silence. Because the man on the poster was none other than Pete Tyler.   
“A parallel world and my dad's still alive.”  
The Doctor grabbed her shoulder.  
“Don't look at it, Rose. Don't even think about it. This is not your world.”  
“But he's my dad and-” She walked over to it and ran a finger along the advert screen, jumping a little as a short film switched on. It was a simple repeating reel.   
“Trust me on this.”  
“That’s so weird. But he's real.”  
“Trust me on this.”  
A smile spread up her face. “He's a success. He was always planning these daft little schemes. Health food, drinks and stuff. Everyone said they were useless. But he did it.”  
The Doctor put himself between Rose and the poster.   
“Rose, if you've ever trusted me, then listen to me now. Stop looking at it. Your father's dead. He died when you were six months old. That is not your Pete. That is just a Pete. For all we know, he's got his own Jackie, his own Rose. His own daughter who is someone else, but not you. You can't see him. Not ever.”  
The advert kept playing in the background.  
“Trust me on this. Trust me on this. Trust me on this. Trust me on this.”

When Mickey followed Eris and the Doctor back to the Tardis, the latter wasn’t impressed.   
“I told you to keep an eye on her.”  
“She's all right.” Mickey shrugged.   
“She goes wandering off. Parallel world, it's like a gingerbread house. All those temptations calling out!”   
He snapped a little. “Oh, so it's just Rose, then? Nothing out there to tempt me?”  
The Doctor was quiet for a moment.   
“Well, I don't know, I can't worry about everything. If I could just get this thing to-”   
He kicked the console forcefully, getting a snort of laughter from both Eris and Mickey.   
She raised an eyebrow. “Did that help?”  
“Yes.”  
Mickey joined in. “Did that hurt?”  
“Yes. Ow.” The Doctor sat down heavily, nursing his sore foot as the others rolled their eyes at each other. 

Rose flopped down on a bench beside the Thames, staring up at the numerous Zeppelins filling the sky above. They were slow-moving beasts, plodding sedately below the clouds with their gargantuan propellers. She must have been sitting there, just staring aimlessly, for a few minutes before her phone beeped in her pocket. A message had appeared on the screen: Cybus Network - Welcome! Free Trial Period. After clicking the accept button, an international news service began to play.   
“And it's good news for Great Britain as John Lumic returns to the country of his birth. Mr Lumic, the inventor of high content metal, has denied allegations of ill health.”   
A man - clearly Mr Lumic - appeared on the screen.   
“We're all flesh and blood, but the brain is what makes us human. And my mind is more creative than ever.”   
The broadcast returned to the newsreader.   
“With shares in Cybus Industries doubling in price, Mister Lumic is…”  
Rose found herself zoning out, the words of the news report fading in her ears as she stared out at the water. She caught the occasional odd phrase, but didn’t really retain anything she heard. Her mind was far too occupied with thoughts of her dad.   
“In other news, the Torchwood Institute published a study claiming that…” 

Once the Doctor had calmed down a little, he started to explain exactly why their current situation was such a problem. “We're not meant to be here. The Tardis draws its power from the universe, but it's the wrong universe. It's like diesel in a petrol engine.”   
Mickey frowned, leaning next to Eris against the console.   
“But I've seen it in comics. People go hopping from one alternative world to another. It's easy.”  
“Not in the real world. It used to be easy. When the Time Lords kept their eye on everything, you could hop between realities, home in time for tea. Then they died, and took it all with them. The walls of reality closed, the worlds were sealed. Everything became that bit less kind.”  
“Then how did we get here?”  
“I don't know. Accident? Should've been impossible. Now we're trapped.”   
Eris had been squinting at the floor for a couple of minutes, which worried her dad a little.  
“Eris, you ok?”   
She nodded, pointing down. “Yeah, come and look at this.”   
He and Mickey moved to look at what she’d spotted.   
“What's that?”  
There was a tiny green light underneath the grating.   
The Doctor broke into a grin. “That, there. Is that a reflection? It's a light! Is it? Is that a light? I think that's a light. That's all we need.” He shoved them off the grating so he could pull it up and stared down into the middle of the tangle of wires. “We've got power! Mickey, we've got power! Ha!”

Less than a minute later, the Doctor was crouched deep in the hole in the floor, strategically passing up bundles of wires so Eris could keep them out of the way.   
“It's alive!”  
Mickey frowned. “What is it?”  
The Doctor resurfaced, perching on the edge of the grating. In his hands was a small crystalline structure, about the size of an apple, that glowed softly green.   
“It's nothing. It's tiny. One of those insignificant little power cells that no one ever bothers about, and it's clinging onto life, with one little ounce of reality tucked away inside.”  
“Enough to get us home?”  
“Not yet. I need to charge it up.”  
Jerking a thumb over his shoulders, Mickey turned towards the doors.   
“We could go outside and lash it up to the National Grid.”  
Eris ran a finger over the crystal. I think it would be the wrong sort of energy.”   
The Doctor nodded in agreement. “It has to come from our universe.”   
“But we don't have anything.” Mickey looked forlorn.   
He grinned. “There's me.” Cradling the device, he blew on it softly and the light grew brighter.   
“I just gave away ten years of my life. Worth every second.”  
As they watched, the light faded again. Eris looked a little worried. “It's going out. Is that okay?”  
The Doctor smiled. “It's on a recharging cycle. It'll loop round, power back up and be ready to take us home in, oh, twenty four hours?”  
Mickey was clearly thinking about something.   
“So that gives us twenty four hours on a parallel world?”  
“Shore leave. As long as we keep our heads down. Easy. No problem. Let's go and tell her.”

As they got to the bench, the Doctor waved the power cell at Rose.   
“There you are. You all right? No applause. I fixed it. Twenty four hours, then we're flying back to reality.” She didn’t respond, and he threw himself onto the seat next to her. “What is it?”  
She was quiet for a moment. “My phone connected. There's this Cybus Network. It finds your phone. It gave me Internet access.”  
Eris knelt in front of her. “Rose, whatever it says, this is the wrong world.”  
“I don't exist.”  
The Doctor frowned. “What do you mean?”  
“There's no Rose Tyler. I was never born. There's Pete, my dad, and Jackie. He still married mum but they never had kids.”  
“Give me that phone.”  
“They're rich. They've got a house and cars, and everything they want. But they haven't got me. I've got to see him.”  
He groaned, having seen this coming. “You can't.”  
“I just want to see him.”  
“I can't let you.”  
Rose’s voice became slightly shrill. “You just said twenty four hours!”  
“You can't become their daughter, that's not the way it works. Mickey, tell her.”  
He stared thoughtfully at the ground, before making up his mind.   
“Twenty four hours, yeah?”  
Eris stood. “Where are you going?”  
“Well, I can do what I want.” He started to walk away.   
Rose continued to plead with the Doctor, pointing across the river.   
“I've got the address and everything.”   
Furious, the Doctor jumped to his feet.   
“Stay where you are, both of you. Rose, come back here! Mickey, come back here right now!”  
“I just want to see him.”  
“Yeah, I've got things to see and all.”  
The Doctor scoffed. “Like what?”   
Mickey glared at him. “Well, you don't know anything about me, do you? It's always about Rose. I'm just a spare part.”  
Taking the opportunity, Rose started to walk away. “I'm sorry. I've got to go.”   
He looked between the two of them, torn. Eris made the decision for him, stepping backwards to join Mickey and linking their arms.   
“Go on. Neither of us can stop them.”  
Conceding, the Doctor pointed angrily at the Tardis, “Back here, twenty four hours!” before running after Rose.   
Mickey muttered bitterly under his breath. “Yeah. If I haven't found something better.”

“It’s been five years now. I miss her so much.”   
Eris squeezed his elbow gently, trying to offer some kind of comfort. Mickey had told her everything, about how his gran had been the most important person in his life for so long, and how his whole world had crashed in around him when she’d died.   
“What if there’s no Mickey here though, like there’s no Rose? How do I get her to talk to me then?”   
“Hey, don’t worry about it. We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it, and I promise one way or another that you’ll get to see her.” She frowned suddenly. “I wonder what that’s for.”  
They were approaching an army roadblock.   
Mickey aimed a friendly nod at the soldiers manning the gate.   
“Are we alright to get past?”  
“Yeah. No bother. Curfew doesn't start till ten.”  
Eris frowned slightly. “There's a curfew?”  
The soldier they were talking to gave them a funny look.  
“Course there is. Where’ve you two been living, then? Up there with the toffs?”   
The three of them looked up at the Zeppelins trailing their way across the cloudy afternoon sky.   
Mickey snorted. “I wish. See you.”   
And they passed through, getting ever closer to their destination. 

On a completely different street, Rose had also been telling the story of Mickey’s family.   
“Mickey's mum just couldn't cope. His dad hung around for a while, but then he just sort of wandered off. He was brought up by his gran. She was such a great woman. God, she used to slap him! And then she died. She tripped and fell down the stairs. It's about five years ago now. I was still in school.”  
The Doctor sounded a bit guilty. “I never knew.”  
“Well, you never asked.”  
“You never said!”  
“That's Mickey. I suppose I, we just take him for granted. Do you think she's still alive, his gran?”   
He shrugged. “Could be. Like I said, parallel world, gingerbread house. We need to get out of here as fast as we can.”   
A sudden rhythmic beeping sound interrupted their discussion, and the other people on the street around them stopped dead in their tracks.   
“What're they all doing?” Rose waved a hand in front of the eyes of the nearest woman.   
“They've stopped.” The Doctor tilted his head, looking closely at the earpods everyone was wearing.   
“It's the earpieces. Like Bluetooth attachments, but everyone's connected together.”   
Hearing the same beep from her phone, Rose checked it.   
“It's on my phone. It's automatic, look. It's downloading. Is this what they're all getting? News, international news, sports, weather.”  
“They get it directly. Downloaded right into their heads.”  
“TV schedules, lottery numbers.”  
“Everyone shares the same information. A daily download published by Cybus Industries.”  
The next segment was labeled ‘Joke’, and the people around them laughed simultaneously before moving again, continuing about their business.   
The Doctor sighed.   
“You lot, you're obsessed. You'd do anything for the latest upgrade.”  
“Oi, not my lot. Different world, remember.”  
“It's not so far off your world. This place is only parallel.” He nicked Rose’s phone from her hand, doing a bit of digging. “Oh, look at that. Cybus Industries, owners of just about every company in Britain, including Vitex. Mister Pete Tyler's very well connected.”   
Knowing that their best shot of finding out what was going on was investigating someone linked to Cybus, Rose pulled out the puppy eyes. The Doctor looked at her, his resolve failing fast, and finally caved.   
“Oh, okay. I give up. Let's go and see him.”

Number 1 Waterton Street - the address they’d been looking for. Mickey had dithered for a second before working up the courage to knock on the door, still clinging to Eris’ hand. He recognised the voice of the woman inside the house.   
“Who's that there?”   
The door opened to reveal an old woman with pure white hair, wearing black glasses and ear pods. She carried a white stick.   
“Who is it? I know you're there. Shame on you, tricking an old lady. I've got nothing worth stealing. And don't think I'm going to disappear! You're not going to take me.”   
Eris could feel herself smiling - she already liked her.   
Mickey barely managed to choke out the word, “Hi.”  
“Is that you?”  
“It's me. I came home.”  
“Ricky?”   
Mickey could feel Eris shaking with laughter next to him, and he nudged her in the ribs. Of course, that was the name his parallel version had.   
“It's Mickey.”  
“I know my own grandson's name. It's Ricky. Now, come here.”  
He stepped forward to hug his gran, wiping his eyes.   
“Okay, I'm Ricky. Of course I am. Ricky, that's me.”   
As the hug ended, his gran slapped him hard on the cheek.   
“Ow!”  
“You stupid boy. Where have you been?”  
“Ow! Stop hitting me!”  
“It's been days and days! I keep hearing all these stories. People disappearing off the streets. There's nothing official on the download. But there are all these rumours, and, and whispers. I thought that God had disappeared you!”  
Mickey was quiet, having noticed something over his gran’s shoulder.   
“That carpet on the stairs, I told you to get it fixed. You're going to fall and break your neck.”  
His gran sniffed. “Well, you get it fixed for me.”  
“I should have done it way back. I guess I'm just kind of useless.”  
The next smack came from Eris. “Don’t you dare. You’re the most important person I know.”   
His gran turned her head in the direction of Eris’ voice.   
“Who’re you?”   
“I’m Eris, one of Ricky’s friends. It’s nice to meet you.”   
She smiled. “It’s lovely to meet you too dear. You both got time for a nice sit down and a cup of tea?”  
Mickey grinned. “For you, I've got all the time in the world.”  
“Oh, you say that, but it's all talk. It's those new friends of yours. I don't trust them.”  
“What friends are they?”  
“Don't pretend you don't know. You've been seeing them. Mrs Chan told me. Driving about all helter skelter in that van.”  
Mickey was struggling to keep up. “What van's that, then?”   
“You know full well! Don't play games with me. Get inside.”   
But before they had the chance to go in, a van screeched down the street behind them and braked harshly. A person jumped out of the van and grabbed Mickey and Eris by the arm, pulling them backwards towards the van doors.   
“I've been looking for you everywhere!”   
Once they were in the van, the door closed behind them and the van drove away again, leaving Mickey’s gran standing on the doorstep in confusion. 

Inside the van, a man around Mickey’s age with platinum blonde hair was berating him.   
“Ricky, you were the one who told us you don't contact your family because it puts them in danger.”   
“Yeah. Ricky said that. Course I did, just testing.”   
“Who’s your friend?” The man frowned at Eris.   
She thought about offering a handshake, but decided he didn’t seem like the type that would accept it. “I’m Eris, I met Ricky a couple of days ago and he mentioned you. Thought I’d like to tag along.”   
Mickey was impressed with how easily she’d come up with a story.   
The blonde nodded. “Good to have a new person. I’m Jake, and that’s Mrs Moore driving. And you’ll never guess what I got on camera earlier.”   
Pulling a video camera from his jacket, Jake started playing a video of a group of homeless men trying to escape from a large van.   
“I saw them. I taped them. They went round Blackfriars gathering up the homeless like the child catcher. They must've took four dozen.”  
Mrs Moore called to them from the front seat.   
“The vans were hired out to a company called International Electromatics. But I did a protocol search. Turns out that's a dummy company established by guess who?”  
Mickey shrugged. “I don't know. Who?”  
Jake and Mrs Moore answered in sync. “Cybus Industries!”  
“Well, now we've got evidence.” Jake grinned.   
Mrs Moore tutted. “Bad news is, they've arrested Thin Jimmy. So that just leaves you.”  
Mickey frowned. “Leaves me what?”  
“The Number One. Top of the list. London's Most Wanted.”  
“Okay, cool. Say that again?”   
Next to him, Mickey could see Eris failing to disguise her laughter. 

They pulled up in front of a large house, and Jake and Mrs Moore were immediately on high alert.   
“There's a light on. There's someone inside the base. Mrs Moore, we've got visitors.”  
Leaving Mickey and Eris to bring up the rear, they ran to the house and headed for the back door. Jake raised his gun and counted them in.   
“One, two, three, go!”   
As they burst into the room, Mickey’s jaw dropped as he set eyes on the figure that was standing there.   
Ricky glared at Jake. “What the hell are you doing?”  
Jake stammered. “What're you doing there?”   
“What am I doing here? What am I doing there?”   
Jake and Mrs Moore turned their guns on Mickey - and Eris, for good measure. The pair raised their hands in surrender, not wanting to aggravate them any more than they already had done. 

Hiding in the bushes alongside the wide driveway of the Tyler house, the Doctor and Rose watched fancy cars and limousines pull up.   
“They've got visitors.”  
Rose recalled the date that Mickey had seen in the newspaper.   
“February the first. Mum's birthday. Even in a parallel universe, she still loves a party.”  
The Doctor shrugged.   
“Well, given Pete Tyler's guest list, I wouldn't mind a look. And there is one guaranteed way of getting inside.” He dipped a hand into his pocket and waved the psychic paper under her nose.  
“Who do you want to be?”

This wasn’t exactly how she’d pictured it, Rose thought, as she and the Doctor carried trays of canapés and champagne through from the kitchens.   
“We could have been anyone.”  
“Got us in, didn't it?” He grinned, especially impressed with himself for finding spare black and white waiter uniforms.   
“You're in charge of the psychic paper. We could've been guests. Celebrities. Sir Doctor, Dame Rose. We end up serving. Did enough of this back home.” Rose was grumbling, but the Doctor did his best to appease her.   
“If you want to know what's going on, work in the kitchens. According to Lucy, that man over there”  
“Who's Lucy?”  
He pointed subtly towards another young waitress. “She's carrying the salmon pinwheels.”  
Rose didn’t look impressed. “Oh, that's Lucy, is it?”  
“Yeah. Lucy says-” And he nodded towards a middle aged black man, who was engaged in conversation with some very glamorous looking guests. “-that is the President of Great Britain.  
“What, there's a President, not a Prime Minister?”  
“Seems so.”   
“Or maybe Lucy's just a bit thick.”  
Pete Tyler moved to stand in the middle of the staircase, getting everyone’s attention.  
“Excuse me! Thank you very much. Thank you if I could just have your attention, please? Thank you very much! Um, I'd just like to say thank you to you all, for coming on this, this very special occasion. My wife's... thirty ninth.”   
Slight laughter rippled through the crowd.   
Pete joined in. “Trust me on this. And so, without any further ado, here she is, the birthday girl. My lovely wife, Jackie Tyler.”   
Rose gaped as Jackie walked down the stairs to stand beside Pete, wearing a skin tight black dress and looking absolutely stunning.   
“Now, I'm not giving a speech. That's what my parties are famous for. No work, no politics, just a few good mates and plenty of black market whisky. Pardon me, Mister President. So, yeah, get on with it. Enjoy, enjoy.” And with applause and laughter, the party got back underway.   
The Doctor squeezed Rose’s free hand, speaking quietly.   
“You can't stay. Even if there was some way of telling them.”  
“Course I can't. I've still got Mum at home. My real mum. I couldn't just leave her, could I. It's just, they've got each other. Mum's got no one.”  
Happy that she was seeing sense, the Doctor smiled.   
“She's got you. Those two haven't. All these different worlds, not one of them gets it right.”  
The sound of her name being called drew their attention. Jackie was cooing at a tiny terrier as it scampered towards her.   
“Rose! There's my little girl! Come to mummy, come to mummy! Yes, good girl! Good girl, aren't you?”   
Unable to hold it in, the Doctor burst into laughter, before stopping at the sight of Rose’s glare.   
“Sorry.”

In the kitchen base, Mickey and Eris had been tied to chairs. Mickey had been stripped and scanned; they probably would have tried the same with Eris had she not threatened to dislocate the shoulders of anyone who even thought about removing her clothes.   
Jake shrugged, finishing his work with the scanning device.   
“He's clean. No bugs.”   
Ricky shook his head. “But this is off the scale. He's flesh and blood. How did that happen?”  
Mrs Moore smiled wryly. “Well, it could be that Cybus Industries have perfected the science of human cloning, or your father had a bike.”  
“And your name is Mickey, not Ricky.”  
Mickey, cheeks still burning at his lack of clothing, answered.   
“Mickey. Dad was Jackson Smith. Used to work at the key cutters in Clifton's Parade. Went to Spain, never came back.”  
“But that's my dad. So, we're brothers?”  
Jake looked between the two of them. “Be fair. What else could it be?”  
“I don't know. But he doesn't just look like me, he is exactly the same. There's something else going on here, Jake.”   
Eris piped up. “So, who are you guys?”  
Ricky spread his arms, gesturing at the space around them.   
“We? We are the Preachers. As in Gospel Truth. You see? No ear plugs. While the rest of the world downloads from Cybus Industries, we - we have got freedom. You're talking to London's Most Wanted, but target Number One is Lumic, and we are going to bring him down.”  
Mickey raised an eyebrow. “From your kitchen?”  
“Have you got a problem with that?”  
“No, it's a good kitchen.”  
One of the many open laptops chimed, and Mrs Moore checked it.   
“It's an upload from Gemini.”  
Eris frowned. “Who's Gemini?”   
She didn’t get an answer. “The vans are back. They're moving out of Battersea. Looks like Gemini was right. Lumic's finally making a move.”  
Ricky cut the ropes holding both of them and threw a spare set of clothes to Mickey.  
“And we are right behind him. Pack up, we're leaving.”   
As the last of the lorries passed their base, the van followed it, the Preachers checking their weapons as they drove away. 

Rose stood with her back to a wall, watching the party guests milling about, gossiping. The Doctor had disappeared somewhere, but she couldn’t bring herself to worry too much about it now - Pete was walking towards her. His smile was tinged with nostalgia.   
“I remember her twenty first. Pint of cider in the George.”  
Not really sure what to say, Rose went with, “Sorry. Champagne?”  
“Oh, might as well. I'm paying for it.”  
“It's a big night for you.”  
“For her. Still, she's happy.”  
“She should be. It's a great party.”  
“Do you think?”  
Unable to resist, Rose did his signature line, complete with the thumbs up. “You can trust me.”  
He laughed, correcting her. “You can trust me on this.”  
“That's it, sorry. So, how long have you two been married?”  
“Twenty years.”  
“And no kids, or?”  
“We kept putting it off. She said she didn't want to spoil her figure.”  
“It's not too late. She's only forty.”  
Pete raised an eyebrow. “Thirty nine.”  
“Oh, right. Thirty nine.”  
He sighed, the mood clearly souring. “It's still too late. I moved out last month, but we're going to keep it quiet. You know, it's bad for business. Why am I telling you all this? We haven't met before, have we? I don't know, you just seem sort of…”  
“What?”  
“I don't know. Just sort of right.” Spotting a friend, he left her to her thoughts. “Stevie! How's things? How's it going at Torchwood?”

Ricky and Jake crouched in a cluster of bushes, reporting back to Mrs Moore and the others via walkie-talkie.   
Ricky frowned at the truck that had pulled up. “I don't know what they're doing, but this seems to be the target. Big house, fair bit of money. Now we have got to find a way to get in.”  
Mrs Moore replied. “I've identified the address. It belongs to Peter Tyler, the Vitex millionaire.”  
In the van, Mickey and Eris exchanged nervous glances.   
“Pete Tyler?”  
“He's listed as one of Lumic's henchmen. A traitor to the state.”  
“But…” Mickey spoke into the walkie-talkie. “We've got to get in there.”  
Ricky snapped back. “Now, shut it, duplicate. That's what I just said.”  
As they watched the lorry, a ramp dropped to the ground.   
“What are they doing?”   
Heavy feet marched down the ramp and onto the gravel, the silver bodies above glistening under the floodlights.   
Rickey and Jake recoiled.   
“What the hell are they?”

Jackie Tyler was sitting outside on a small veranda, enjoying the cool night air.   
“Mrs Tyler, is there anything I can get you?” Rose was standing in the doorway.   
Jackie sighed. “The last twenty years back.”  
“I can manage a glass of champagne or a nice cup of tea?”  
“Oh, that'd do me.”   
Rose sat down next to her, doing her best to keep the shake out of her voice.   
“My mum loves that. End of a long night she never goes straight to bed, she always stays up just to have that last cup of tea.”  
“Oh, I'm the same.” Jackie smiled.   
“Two sugars.”  
“And me. Pete always says, you know... Ah, never mind him.”  
Rose bit her lip, before deciding to say it anyway.   
“I was talking to him earlier. He's a nice man. You know, bit of a Jack the Lad, I suppose, even if he has got money, but he's a good bloke. Better than most. He's worth a second chance.”  
Jackie’s voice turned cold. “Are you commenting on my marriage?”  
“No, I was just…”   
“Who the hell do you think you are? You're staff. You're nothing but staff. You're just the serving girl, for God's sake. And you are certainly not getting paid. Don't you dare talk to me.”   
As Jackie stormed back inside and Rose tried desperately not to cry, floodlights flared into life, backlighting numerous rows of marching figures. Uneasy, Rose went back inside to look for the Doctor. 

Inside the office, the Doctor had finally gained access to the most recent file that had been sent - a presentation by John Lumic himself. As he listened to the raspy voiceover and watched the animation, a wave of horror and repulsion grew inside him.   
“The most precious thing on this Earth is the human brain. This is the ultimate upgrade. Our greatest step into cyberspace.”   
Realisation hit. “Cybers.” 

The Doctor and Rose ended up at the same window, hands framing their eyes so they could see better into the darkness. His voice was quiet, with a hint of a tremor.  
“It's happening again.”  
“What do you mean?”  
“I've seen them before.”  
“What are they?”  
“Cybermen.”   
The Cybermen smashed through most of the windows in the other walls, marching through the house and herding the guests into the main room. As they stood there, the President’s telephone rang and he answered it, putting it on speaker.   
“Mr Lumic.”  
Lumic sounded a little breathless. “Mr President. I suppose a remark about crashing the party would be appropriate at this point.”  
“I forbade this.”  
“These are my children, sir. Would you deny my family?”  
Rose kept her voice low. “What are they, robots?”  
The Doctor matched her whisper. “Worse than that.”  
Their attention was drawn back to the President’s conversation.  
“Who were these people?”  
Lumic sounded apathetic. “Doesn't matter.”  
Rose’s eyes widened. “They're people?”  
“They were, until they had all their humanity taken away. That's a living brain jammed inside a cybernetic body, with a heart of steel. All emotions removed.” The Doctor was watching them, a deep sadness rising in his hearts.   
“Why no emotions?”  
“Because it hurts.”

“I demand to know, Lumic. These people, who were they?”  
“They were homeless, and wretched, and useless until I saved them, and elevated them, and gave them life eternal. And now I leave you in their capable hands. Goodnight, sir.”  
The call ended.   
One Cyberman started to speak.   
“We have been upgraded. We are the next level of mankind. We are Human point two. Every citizen will receive a free upgrade. You will become like us.”   
The President held out a placating hand.   
“I'm sorry. I'm so sorry for what's been done to you, but listen to me. This experiment ends tonight.”  
“Upgrading is compulsory.”  
“And if I refuse?”  
The Doctor stepped forward. “Don't.”  
“What if I refuse?”  
“I'm telling you, don't.”  
“What happens if I refuse?”  
The Cyberman’s voice was completely flat. “Then you are not compatible.”  
“What happens then?”  
“You will be deleted.”   
It reached out and put a hand on the President’s neck, sending streamers of electricity coursing through his body. As the rest of the party descended into panic, the Doctor grabbed Rose’s hand. 

Thinking fast, they jumped through a nearby window and started to make their escape. Rose faltered for a moment, looking back.   
The Doctor grabbed her hand. “There's nothing we can do.”  
“My mum's in there!”  
“She is not your mother! Come on!”   
They started to run across the lawn but were faced with a line of approaching Cybermen, and were forced to turn back. As they did so, Pete came through the same window they had used, and Rose encouraged him to follow them. The Doctor shouted over his shoulder at the man.  
“Pete, is there a way out?”  
“The side gates. Who are you? How do you know so much?”  
“You wouldn't believe it in a million years.”   
Before they could reach the gates, another rank of Cybermen cut them off. Two shadowy figures ran towards them, clearly carrying weapons, mere silhouettes against the floodlights.   
Rose frowned. “Who's that?” Before recognising one of the men.   
“Get behind me!”   
It was Ricky and Jake; they dropped to a crouch in front of the trio and opened fire on the Cybermen. Unfortunately, the bullets simply bounced off their metal forms. It did, however, make them stop in their tracks.   
Rose threw herself at ‘Mickey’, hugging him tightly. “Oh my God, look at you. I thought I'd never see you again!”  
Ricky pulled a face at her. “Yeah. No offence, sweetheart, but who the hell are you?”   
As she stepped back in confusion, she heard Mickey calling her name.  
“Rose! That's not me. That's like the other one.”   
He and Eris joined them, both a little out of breath, and the Doctor rolled his eyes.   
“Oh, as if things weren't bad enough, there's two Mickey's.”  
The parallel version sneered. “It's Ricky.”  
Eris grabbed her dad’s arm. “But there's more of them. We're surrounded.”   
As yet another line of Cybermen approached, the Doctor warned the boys.   
“Put the guns down. Bullets won't stop them.”   
Unfazed by the instruction, Jake started shooting again, getting a few rounds off before the Doctor tore the gun from his hands and threw it to the floor.   
“No! Stop shooting, now. We surrender! Hands up.” Following his lead, the others raised their hands in the air. “There's no need to damage us. We're good stock. We volunteer for the upgrade program. Take us to be processed.”  
One Cyberman stepped forwards. “You are rogue elements.”  
“But we surrender.”  
“You are incompatible.”  
“But this is a surrender.”  
“You will be deleted.”  
“But we're surrendering! Listen to me, we surrender!”  
“You are inferior. Man will be reborn as Cyberman, but you will perish under maximum deletion.”   
As the Cybermen started to march towards them, Eris and the Doctor did their best to put themselves between their friends and the advancing aliens. The net was slowly closing in on them, and more cybernetic voices joined the ruckus.   
“Delete. Delete. Delete!”


	7. The Age of Steel

Thinking on his feet, the Doctor directed the recharging power cell at the Cybermen, sending a stream of golden energy at the ranks and atomising them.   
Ricky stared between the Doctor and the settling dust. “What the hell was that?”  
“Doesn’t matter. Run!”   
The van’s horn sounded behind them - Mrs Moore was leaning out of the window.   
“Everybody, in!”  
Pete shook his head, pointing back at the house. “I've got to go back. My wife's in there.”  
The Doctor pulled him towards the van. “Anyone inside that house is dead. If you want to help, then don't let her die for nothing. You've got to come with us right now.”  
Mrs Moore rolled her eyes. “Come on! Get a move on!”  
Rose faltered.   
“Rose, she's not your mother.”  
“I know.”  
“Come on.”  
Mrs Moore pounded the horn again.   
“Finished chatting? Never seen a slower getaway in my life!”  
Eris was already in the back of the van, helping the others on board as Mrs Moore stepped on the accelerator and started the van moving. As the last person got in and she closed the doors, more legions of Cybermen started on the move. 

Ricky watched the Doctor, a little apprehensive. “What was that thing?”  
“Little bit of technology from my home.”  
“It's stopped glowing. Has it run out?” Mickey groaned at the thought of being trapped there any longer.   
The Doctor shook his head. “It's on a revitalising loop. It'll charge back up in about four hours.”  
Ricky rolled his eyes. “Right. So, we don't have a weapon anymore.”  
Next to him, Jake sneered. “Yeah, we've got weapons. Might not be one of those metal things, but they're good enough for men like him.” He gestured at Pete using his gun.   
Rose jumped to his defense. “Leave him alone. What's he done wrong?”  
“Oh, you know, just laid a trap that's wiped out the Government and left Lumic in charge.”  
Pete snapped. “If I was part of all that, do you think I'd leave my wife inside?”  
Ricky started on Pete too. “Maybe your plan went wrong. Still gives us the right to execute you, though.”  
The Doctor pointed a warning finger at the two of them.   
“Talk about executions, you'll make an enemy of both of us. And take some really good advice. You don't want to do that.”   
Eris’ voice was cold. “Think about harming anyone here and I will break both your arms, understood?”   
Nods from Ricky and Jake, and the tension dissipated. 

“All the same, we have evidence that says Pete Tyler's been working for Lumic since twenty point five.” Ricky crossed his arms.   
Rose felt sick. “Is that true?”  
“Tell them, Mrs M.”   
From the driver’s seat, Mrs Moore called back.  
“We've got a government mole who feeds us information. Lumic's private files, his South American operations, the lot. Secret broadcasts twice a week.”  
Pete huffed. “Broadcast from Gemini?”  
“And how do you know that?” Ricky glared.   
“I'm Gemini. That's me.”  
“Yeah, well you would say that.”  
“Encrypted wavelength six five seven using binary nine. That's the only reason I was working for Lumic. To get information. I thought I was broadcasting to the Security Services. What do I get? Scooby Doo and his gang. They've even got the van.”  
Mickey tried to stand up for his new friends. “No, no, no. But the Preachers know what they're doing. Ricky said he's London's Most Wanted.”  
Ricky looked a little embarrassed. “Yeah, that's not exactly…”  
“Not exactly what?”  
“I'm London's Most Wanted for parking tickets.”   
Eris snorted. “Nice one.”   
“Yeah, they were deliberate. I was fighting the system. Park anywhere, that's me.”  
The Doctor grinned. “Good policy. I do much the same. I'm the Doctor, by the way, if anyone's interested.”  
“And I'm Rose. Hello.” She waved nervously, and Pete laughed mirthlessly.   
“Even better. That's the name of my dog. Still, at least I've got the catering staff on my side.”  
“I knew you weren't a traitor.”  
“Why is that, then?”  
“I just did.”  
Pete ran a hand over his face. “They took my wife.”  
“She might still be alive.”  
“That's even worse. Because that's what Lumic does. He takes the living and he turns them into those machines.”   
Eris shuddered. “Cybermen. They're called Cybermen.”   
The Doctor held a hand out to Pete. “And I'd take those ear pods off, if I were you. You never know. Lumic could be listening.” The silver pods were dropped into his hand, and he used the sonic to deactivate them. “But he's overreached himself. He's still just a businessman. He's assassinated the President. All we need to do is get to the city and inform the authorities. Because I promise you, this ends tonight.”

They stopped the van close to the main street and got out, gobsmacked by the sight in front of them. What looked like the whole of London was on its feet, marching slowly in the same direction.   
Jake gasped. “What the hell? What's going on?”  
The Doctor looked grim. “It's the ear-pods. Lumic's taken control.”  
“Can't we just, I don't know, take them off?” Rose reached out for one of the people passing by, but Eris grabbed her hand before she could touch them.   
“Don't!”   
The Doctor agreed. “It’d cause a brainstorm. Human race. For such an intelligent lot, you aren't half susceptible. Give anyone a chance to take control and you submit. Sometimes I think you like it. Easy life.”   
Jake had broken away from them and was peering around a corner, where he beckoned them over.   
“Hey, Come and see.”  
More people were walking, this time in the company of a squad of Cybermen.   
“Where are they all going?”  
The Doctor shrugged. “I don't know. Lumic must have a base of operations.”  
Pete got his attention. “Battersea. That's where he was building his prototypes.”  
“Why's he doing it?” Rose frowned.   
“He's dying. This all started out as a way of prolonging life, of keeping the brain alive at any cost.”  
“The thing is, I've seen Cybermen before, haven't I? The head. Those handle shapes in Van Statten's museum.”   
Eris sighed. “Yeah, that was a Cyberman. From a long time ago.”   
“There are Cybermen in our universe. They started on an ordinary world just like this, then swarmed across the galaxy. This lot are a parallel version, and they're starting from scratch right here on Earth.” The Doctor aimed his sonic at the Cybermen, seeing if he could pick anything up.   
Pete snapped. “What the hell are you two on about?”   
Ricky took charge. “Never mind that. Come on, we need to get out of the city. Okay, split up. Mrs Moore, you look after that bloke. Jake, distract them. Go right, I'll go left. We'll meet back at Bridge Street. Move.”   
“I'm going with him.” Mickey kissed Rose briefly before running after Ricky, leaving Jake to draw the Cybermen’s attention as Mrs Moore led the others down a side street. 

Mickey and Ricky stopped outside an industrial unit, their voices overlapping as they tried to catch their breath.   
“Which way? I don't know where we are.”  
“Did they see us?”  
“Do they know where we are?”  
“I think they saw us. I bet they can see in the dark.”  
“I bet they've got satellites.”  
“I bet they saw us in the dark.”  
And then they were in sync. “They know where we are.”  
Ricky sneered. “I don't get it. What is it with you? You are exactly like me.”  
“I don't know, I reckon you're braver.”  
“Oh yeah, ten times. Still, your friends aren't bad. I'll give you that.”  
“Oh, that's the Doctor, Eris and Rose. I just tag along behind.”  
“Well, then, you're not that bad.”  
Mickey smiled. “Do you think?”  
“Yeah, I suppose.”   
A metallic stomping echoed around the yard, and the shining forms of the Cybermen came into view.   
“Cybermen.” Mickey breathed, before turning to Ricky.   
They spoke together again.   
“Split up!”  
And they ran for it. 

They came face to face again on opposite sides of a tall, chain-link fence. The Cybermen were following Ricky, and he started to climb the fence as they closed in.   
“Come on! Come on! Come on!” Mickey encouraged him.   
Ricky was almost clear when a Cyberman wrapped a hand around his ankle, sending him into spasms. He fell to the ground and laid there, lifeless.   
“No!”   
Mickey stared at the Cybermen for a moment, before running back the other way again. He had to get out.

Meanwhile, Mrs Moore and the others had hidden behind a cluster of rubbish bins, huddling together in the cold as a group of Cybermen marched down the alley they were in. Eris held a finger to her lips as they approached, watching Rose grab Pete’s hand in fear. Moving slowly, the Doctor withdrew the sonic screwdriver from his pocket, switching it on to transmit a signal. The Cybermen paused for a second, before marching on.   
“Go.” He mouthed, directing them to the other end of the alleyway. 

They soon bumped into Jake, who was hunched over next to a wall trying to catch his breath.   
“I ran past the river. You should have seen it. The whole city's on the march. Hundreds of Cybermen all down the Thames.”   
Before anyone could respond they saw a figure running towards them, looking over his shoulder every few seconds.   
“Here he is! Which one are you?”   
He shook his head. “I'm sorry. The Cybermen. He couldn't.”  
Jake’s smile dropped. “Are you Ricky? Are you Ricky?”  
“Mickey, that's you, isn't it?” Rose could see it in his eyes, something that she couldn’t quite describe but was entirely Mickey.   
“Yeah. He tried. He was running. There was too many of them.”   
Jake’s face twitched angrily.   
“Shut it.”  
“There was nothing I could do.”  
“I said just shut it. Don't even talk about him. You're nothing, you are. Nothing.”   
Eris got between them, glaring warningly at Jake.   
“That’s enough. There’s no need to be cruel.”  
“But-”  
“I said that’s enough! I understand that you’re sad but we’ve got a big problem here and there’s no time for petty bickering.”   
The Doctor agreed. “We can mourn him when London is safe. But now, we move on.”

They stood in a waste area opposite the battersea power station, figuring out their next steps. Naturally, the Doctor had taken the lead.   
“The whole of London's been sealed off, and the entire population's been taken inside that place. To be converted.”   
“So, we've got to get in there and shut it down.” Eris continued, pacing back and forth as she thought.   
Mickey frowned. “How do we do that?”  
The Doctor grinned. “Oh, I'll think of something.”  
“You're just making this up as you go along.”  
“Yep. But I do it brilliantly.”  
A thought hit Eris. “Mrs Moore? Have you got a laptop on you?”   
She nodded and turned the power on, setting it up to access the building plans.   
“That's a schematic of the old factory. Look. Cooling tunnels underneath the plant. Big enough to walk through…”  
“So we could go under there and up into the control centre?”   
“Mmm.”  
“There's another way in.” Pete walked over to them “Through the front door. If they've taken Jackie for upgrading, that's how she'll get in.”  
Jake frowned. “We can't just go strolling up.”  
Mrs Moore rummaged in her bag for a moment. “Or we could, with these. Fake ear pods. Dead. No signal. But put them on, the Cybermen would mistake you for one of the crowd.”  
Pete thought for less than a second, then nodded. “Then that's my job.”  
The Doctor fixed his eyes on the man. “You'd have to show no emotion. None at all. Any sign of emotion would give you away.”  
Rose made a sudden choice. “How many of those you got?”  
“Just two sets.”  
“Okay. If that's the best way of finding Jackie, then I'm coming with you.”  
Pete looked at her oddly. “Why does she matter to you?”  
“We haven't got time. Doctor, I'm going with him, and that's that.”  
He looked at her. “No stopping you, is there?”  
“No.”

Eris nudged her dad. “Tell you what. We can take the ear pods out at the same time.”  
“Give people their minds back so they don't walk into that place like sheep, I like it. Jakey-boy? Lumic's transmitting the control signal. It must be from over there.”   
Using the sonic screwdriver, he managed to figure out the source of the signal - the Zeppelin that was parked on top of the power station. “There it is. On the zeppelin, you see? Great big transmitter. Good thing Lumic likes showing off. Reckon you could take it out?”  
Jake smirked. “Consider it done.”  
“Eris, Mrs Moore, would you care to accompany me into the cooling tunnels?”  
Eris nodded, and Mrs Moore offered a smile.   
“How could I refuse an offer of cooling tunnels?”  
“We attack on three sides. Above, between, below. We get to the control centre, we stop the conversion machines.”  
From the edge of the group, Mickey said,  
“What about me?”  
The Doctor paused, and it was clear he hadn’t actually thought about Mickey at all.   
“Mickey. You can er-”  
“What, stay out of trouble? Be the tin dog? No, those days are over. I'm going with Jake.”  
Jake sneered. “I don't need you, idiot.”  
“I'm not an idiot! You got that? I'm offering to help.”  
“Whatever.”  
Eris ran over and patted his back. “Mickey. Good luck.”  
“Yeah, you too. Rose, I'll see you later.”  
Rose nodded. “Yeah, you'd better.”  
The Doctor thumped him on the shoulder. “If we survive this, I'll see you back at the Tardis.”  
“That's a promise.”  
And they split up again. 

Eris descended first, wanting to make sure it was safe for the others to follow. It was pitch black, and as the Doctor’s feet hit the floor he patted at the wall next to him.   
“Any sign of a light switch?”   
“Nope, nothing.”   
Mrs Moore joined them, fumbling in her bag. “Can't see a thing. But I've got these. A device for every occasion.” She pulled three head torches out, switching one on. “Put it on.”  
The Doctor grinned. “Haven't got a hotdog in there, have you? I'm starving.”  
Eris nudged him in the ribs as she made the torch comfortable around her head.   
“Of all the things to wish for. That's mechanically recovered meat.”  
“I know. It's the Cyberman of food, but it's tasty.”  
“A proper torch as well.” Mrs Moore handed it to the Doctor, and he turned to direct the light down the tunnel.   
“Let's see where we are.”   
The torchlight illuminated Cybermen standing along one side of the tunnel. Eris flinched backwards.   
Looking closely, the Doctor realised something. “They’re already converted, just put on ice. Come on.” To prove it, he tapped gently on the face of the closest Cyberman. Nothing.   
“Let's go slowly. Keep an eye out for trip systems.”

Pete and Rose ducked behind some waste wooden pallets, watching the Cybermen escorting lines of people into the upgrading facilities.   
“Chamber six now open for human upgrading. Chamber seven now open for human upgrading. Chamber eight now open for human upgrading.”  
Pete handed Rose the second set of ear pods. “Just put them on. Don't show any emotion. No signs, nothing. Okay?”  
“Don't worry. We can do it.”   
“We could die in here. Why are you doing this?”   
Rose took a deep breath, slipping the pods into her ears.   
“Let's just say I'm doing it for my mum and dad. Right, let's go.”  
Linking their hands, they joined the end of the procession, making their faces go blank.   
“Chamber nine now open for human upgrading. Chamber ten now open for human upgrading. Chamber eleven now open for human upgrading.”

Jake was the first one onto the roof, looking at the entrance to the Zeppelin.   
“Two guards. We can take them.”   
Mickey held him back. “Don't kill them.”  
“Who put you in charge?”  
“If you kill them, what's the difference between you and the Cybermen?”  
Thinking it over, Jake pulled two small brown bottles from a pocket.   
“Well, I suppose we could use these.”  
Mickey took one. “Smelling salts?”  
Jake smirked. “Bit stronger than that. One of Mrs Moore's little tricks. Should knock them out. Three, two, one.”  
Running quietly from behind their cover, the boys crept up behind the human guards. They probably hadn’t needed to be so silent - they had ear pods in, and most likely wouldn’t have noticed even if they’d walked up in plain sight of them. Shoving the bottles under the guards’ noses, they laid them gently on the ground once they’d passed out.   
“There's got to be more guards on board.” Mickey looked apprehensively up the ladder.   
Jake started up it. “Then let's go get them.”

Down in the cooling tunnels, they’d all managed to relax a little after the shock of seeing the Cybermen, and the Doctor couldn’t resist starting up a conversation.   
“How did you get into this, then, rattling along with the Preachers?”  
Mrs Moore grinned. “Oh, I used to be ordinary. I worked at Cybus Industries, nine to five, till one day, I find something I'm not supposed to. A file on the mainframe. All I did was read it. Then suddenly I've got men with guns knocking in the middle of the night. Life on the run. Then I found the Preachers. They needed a techie, so I… I just sat down and taught myself everything.”  
Eris smiled back at her. “Very impressive.”   
“What about Mr Moore?” The Doctor looked down at her.   
“Well, he's not called Moore. I got that from a book, Mrs Moore. It's safer not to use real names. But he thinks I'm dead. It was the only way to keep him safe. Him and the kids. What about you? Got any family, or?”  
Patting the Doctor’s shoulder, Eris replied. “We’ve got each other. Who else would we need?”  
The Doctor laughed slightly. “Yeah, I've got the whole world on my shoulders. Go on, then. What's your real name?”  
Mrs Moore dropped her voice to a whisper. “Angela Price. Don't tell a soul.”  
“Not a word.”  
Beside them, a soft clinking, creaking sound echoed a little, and Mrs Moore grabbed the Doctor’s arm.   
“Doctor, did that one just move?”   
He turned his torch on the nearest Cyberman, but it was completely still.   
“It's just the torchlight. Keep going, come on.”   
Nevertheless they picked up the pace a bit, and Eris tensed as the head of a Cyberman a few feet in front of them turned to look at them.   
“They're waking up. Run!”   
As they ran, the Cybermen turned and fell into rank, stomping along the corridor behind them.   
Seeing that she’d reach the ladder first, the Doctor tossed the sonic forwards to Eris. She caught it with ease and scaled the ladder in three big steps, unlocking the trapdoor and shoving it open.   
“Get up! Quickly!”   
The Doctor was the last person out, and he forced the trapdoor closed on the hands of the closest Cyberman, deadlocking it with the sonic for good measure. He grinned, relieved.   
“Oh, good team, Mrs Moore!”

“Units upgraded now six thousand five hundred. Repeat. Six thousand five hundred and rising.”   
A Cyberman cut off the upgrade line at Rose, stopping her in her tracks. “You will wait.”  
Once it had moved away, Pete whispered to her.   
“You okay?”  
“No.”  
“Chamber six now open for human upgrading. All reject stock will be incinerated.”   
Nearby, a woman walked calmly into a chamber. They could hear the whir of multiple blades, slicing through flesh. On the other side, a Cyberman marched out, joining the ranks of it’s fellow robots.   
“Any sign of Jackie?”   
The conversation had to stop as a Cyberman walked up to them.   
“You are Peter Tyler. Confirm you are Peter Tyler.”  
Pete was doing a good job at keeping the tremor out of his voice. “Confirmed.”  
“I recognise you. I went first. My name was Jacqueline Tyler.”  
Rose couldn’t help herself, and gasped. “No!”  
“What?” Tears were welling in Pete’s eyes.   
“They are unprogrammed. Restrain.” On it’s orders, two more Cybermen stepped forward to hold them.   
“You're lying. You're not her. You're not my Jackie!”  
“No, I am Cyber-form. Once I was Jacqueline Tyler.”  
Rose’s words stuck in her throat. “But you can't be. Not her.”  
“Her brain is inside this body.”  
“Jacks, I came to save you.” Pete was almost sobbing now, unable to take his eyes off the thing that had once been his wife.   
“This man worked with Cybus Industries to create our species. He will be rewarded by force. Take them to Cyber Control.”   
The two of them were dragged from the crowd and held to one side, while the Jackie Cyberman moved away.   
“They killed her. They just took her and killed her.” Rose strained against the Cyberman holding her.   
Pete looked hopeful. “ Maybe there's a chance, I don't know. Maybe we can reverse it.”  
“There's nothing we can do.”  
“But if, if she remembers…” He turned his head, but couldn’t spot her. “Where is she? Which one was it? Which one was her?”   
Rose sniffled. “They all look the same.” 

Mickey and Jake had reached the flight deck of the Zeppelin with relative ease, dispatching guards left and right without being spotted.   
“Nice one. Nobody's home. Find the transmitter controls.”   
Mickey looked at him. “What do they look like?”  
Jake rolled his eyes. “Well, I don't know. They might have Transmitter Controls written in big red letters. Just look!”   
They made it to the steering wheel and glanced over the console in front. Jake got the fright of his life when he looked over his shoulder and saw-   
“Cyberman!”   
He aimed his pistol at it, but it didn’t even twitch.   
Mickey approached it cautiously. “: It's dead. I don't think it was ever alive.” He knocked on it’s forehead, getting a hollow ringing in response. “It's empty. No brain. It's just a robot suit. It's for display.”   
Jake sighed, a little calmer. “Okay. Transmitter. Let’s keep looking.”

There was little time to relax for the trio from the cooling tunnels; as they turned into the left corridor they were faced with a Cyberman.   
“You are not upgraded.”  
Mrs Moore sneered. “Yeah? Well, upgrade this.” She threw a small bronze object at the Cyberman’s chest, where it stuck. It sparked, and the Cyberman jerked before collapsing to the floor.   
“What the hell was that thing?” The Doctor looked at the woman, incredulous.   
“Electromagnetic bomb. Takes out computers, I figured it might stop the cyber-suit.”  
Eris patted her on the back. “You figured right, well done!”   
The Doctor knelt by the robot’s side. “Now, let's have a look. Know your enemy.” He used the sonic screwdriver on the large C-shape on it’s chest. “A logo on the front. Lumic's turned them into a brand. Heart of steel, but look.”   
He pulled the plate away, revealing electronics surrounded by a white stringy sort of material.   
Eris looked unsettled. “Is that meant to be flesh?”  
“Hmmm. Central nervous system. Artificially grown then threaded throughout the suit so it responds like a living thing. Well, it is a living thing. Oh, but look. Emotional inhibitor. Stops them feeling anything.”   
Mrs Moore frowned. “But why?”  
“It's still got a human brain. Imagine its reaction if it could see itself, realise itself inside this thing. They'd go insane.”  
“So they cut out the one thing that makes them human.”  
“Because they have to.”

On the floor, the Cyberman’s metal voice croaked out.   
“Why am I cold?”  
Mrs Moore gasped. “Oh, my God. It's alive. It can feel.”  
Eris bit her lip. “We must have broken the inhibitor. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry.”  
“Why so cold?”  
The Doctor rested his hand on it’s arm, knowing it wouldn’t be able to feel it but trying the gesture anyway.   
“Can you remember your name?”  
“Sally. Sally Phelan. Where's Gareth?”   
Eris smiled softly. “Who's Gareth?”  
“He can't see me. It's unlucky the night before.”  
Mrs Moore felt more sorry for the poor woman by the second. “You're getting married.”  
“I'm cold. I'm so cold.”  
The Doctor set up the sonic screwdriver.   
“It's all right. You sleep now, Sally. Just go to sleep.”   
He put it inside the chest cavity and turned it on, switching off the last of her circuits.   
“Sally Phelan didn't die for nothing, because that's the key. The emotional inhibitor. If we could find the code behind it, the cancellation code, then feed it throughout the system into every Cyberman's head, they'd realise what they are.”  
Mrs Moore asked, “And what happens then?”  
Eris sighed. “I think it would kill them. Could we do that?”   
“We've got to. Before they kill everyone else. There's no choice. Is there, Doctor? It's got to be done.”   
She stood up, straight into the reach of a Cyberman. It gripped her shoulder tightly and electrocuted her, tossing her to the ground like a piece of rubbish.   
“No! No, you didn't have to kill her!”   
“Sensors detect a binary vascular system. You are an unknown upgrade. You will be taken for analysis.”   
It’s next step was to reach for Eris, but it stopped itself.  
“You are not human. You will also be taken for analysis.”   
As another two Cybermen blocked their escape route, they followed the first one to wherever it was taking them, a little confused, but glad they had been kept alive.

Mickey had found the transmitter box, but there was a problem.   
“The transmitter controls are sealed behind here, we need… like an oxyacetylene or something.”  
Jake rolled his eyes. “Oh, and I forgot to bring it with me.”  
“Well then, what do we do?”  
“We'll crash the Zeppelin.”  
“With us inside it?”  
“We could set it to automatic and then just leg it. Let's have a look.”   
The two of them moved to the steering controls keyboard, checking the coding.   
Jake shook his head. “It's locked. There's got to be an override.”  
Mickey took it from him. “Let me have a go. I'm good with computers. Trust me.”  
While he worked, neither of them noticed a red light begin to blink in the alcove containing the Cyberman. 

“I've been captured, but don't worry, Rose and Pete are still out there. They can rescue me. Oh well, never mind. You okay?”  
The Doctor and Eris were escorted to stand between Pete and Rose, facing a flat blank wall.   
Rose was morose. “Yeah. But they got Jackie.”  
“We were too late. Lumic killed her.” Pete’s voice was almost as flat as the Cybermens’.   
He shot them a sympathetic look, before the Doctor raised his voice.  
“Then where is he, the famous Mr Lumic? Don't we get the chance to meet our Lord and Master?”   
The nearest Cyberman replied.   
“He has been upgraded.”  
“So he's just like you?”  
“He is superior. The Lumic Unit has been designated Cyber Controller.”   
The wall in front of them scrolled upwards, and a Cyberman slid forward in what looked like a modified wheelchair.   
The thing that had been John Lumic spoke.   
“This is The Age of Steel and I am its Creator.” 

Inside the Zeppelin, Mickey was getting close to cracking the lock.  
“Almost there.”  
Jake looked impressed. “Not bad work.”   
A soft clunk behind them made Jake turn, only to see the Cyberman approaching them, a hand outstretched.   
“It's moving! You said it was dead!”   
Mickey started to run, but then thought about where he was standing.   
“Yeah. But a robot's still a big robot. Wait a minute. Hey, Cyberman, over here. Come on, you brainless lump of metal. Come and have a go!”  
At the last moment he ducked, and the Cyberman punched through the transmitter control box, electrocuting itself in the process. They could hear distant screaming, and knew the plan had worked.   
“The transmitter's down!”

In Cyber Control, the screams were also audible, and the Doctor grinned.   
“That's my friends at work. Good boys! Mr Lumic, I think that's a vote for free will.”   
Lumic seemed unfazed. “I have factories waiting on seven continents. If the ear pods have failed, then the Cybermen will take humanity by force. London has fallen. So shall the world.” 

Mickey got a nearby screen to blink into life.   
“Hold on, I've logged on to Cyber Control. They're alive! Eris, the Doctor and Rose, there they are!”  
The two of them could see the trio and Pete standing against a computer bank, opposite a silvery grey figure in a large metal chair.   
Jake pulled a face. “Never mind them, what the hell is that thing?”  
“Shush. Has this thing got sound?”   
It didn’t take him long to get it working, and they could hear the metallic rasp of Lumic’s voice.   
“I will bring peace to the world. Everlasting peace. And unity and uniformity.” 

In the control room, the Doctor rolled his eyes.   
“And imagination? What about that? The one thing that lead you here, imagination, you're killing it dead!”  
“What is your name?”  
“I'm the Doctor.”  
“A redundant title. Doctors need not exist. Cybermen never sicken.”  
“Yeah, but that's it. That's exactly the point! Oh, Lumic, you're a clever man. I'd call you a genius, except I'm in the room.” Eris snorted, relaxing a little. If he was this confident, he had to have a plan. “But everything you've invented, you did to fight your sickness. And that's brilliant. That is so human. But once you get rid of sickness and mortality, then what's there to strive for, eh? The Cybermen won't advance. You'll just stop. You'll stay like this forever. A metal Earth with metal men and metal thoughts, lacking the one thing that makes this planet so alive. People. Ordinary, stupid, brilliant people.”  
Lumic was apathetic.   
“You are proud of your emotions.”  
“Oh, yes.”  
“Then tell me, Doctor. Have you known grief, rage, and pain?”  
“Yes. Yes I have.”  
“And they hurt?”  
“Oh, yes.”  
“I could set you free. Would you not want that? A life without pain?”  
The Doctor’s face morphed into a sneer. “You might as well kill me.”  
“Then I take that option.”  
“It's not yours to take. You're a Cyber Controller. You don't control me or anything with blood in its heart.”  
“You have no means of stopping me. I have an army. A species of my own.”  
“You just don't get it, do you? An army's nothing. Because those ordinary people, they're the key. The most ordinary person could change the world.” He aimed the next words at the nearest camera, having a feeling that they were being watched by just the person he needed to hear this. “Some ordinary man or woman, some idiot.” 

This caught Mickey’s attention fully, and he listened closer.   
“All it takes is for him to find, say, the right numbers. Say the right codes. Say, for example, the code behind the emotional inhibitor. The code right in front of him. Because even an idiot knows how to use computers these days.”  
Eris caught onto his idea and joined in, raising her voice.  
“Well, any idiot would know how to get past firewalls and passwords. Knows how to find something encrypted in the Lumic Family Database, under er. What was it, Pete? What was that number? Binary…”  
Pete rubbed at his chin thoughtfully.   
“Binary nine.”  
“Binary Nine.” Mickey started typing, his fingers flying across the keyboard as the Doctor carried on.   
“An idiot could find that code. Cancellation code. And he'd keep on typing. Keep on fighting. Anything to save his friends.”  
If Lumic still had the ability to convey emotions, his words would likely have dripped pure scorn.   
“Your words are irrelevant.”   
Eris grinned. “Oh yeah, he talks far too much. It’s a massive issue, honestly. Good thing we sorted your phone out Rose, nice cheap tariff. Helps with all those long phone conversations.”   
A number was finally flashing up on the screen in front of Mickey, and he realised what they were getting at.   
“The phone.”

“You will be deleted.”  
The Doctor started to pace. “Yes. Delete, control, hash. All those lovely buttons. Then, of course, my particular favourite, send. And let's not forget how you seduced all those ordinary people in the first place.”   
Rose’s phone beeped - she had a text. A string of numbers.   
“By making every bit of technology compatible with everything else.” He shrugged.   
“It's for you.” Rose threw him the phone, and he caught it one handed.   
“Like this.”   
The phone fit perfectly into the docking station that the Doctor had been walking towards, and the code was transmitted everywhere. Immediately, the Cybermen around them - and presumably all of the others - cried out in pain, clutching at their heads. The code flashed up on every computer screen. One of them caught sight of itself in a mirrored piece of metal on the wall, and it moaned sorrowfully.   
Eris’s heart twinged painfully.   
“I'm sorry.”   
Lumic was enraged. “What have you done??”   
The Doctor waved the others towards the door.  
“I gave them back their souls. They can see what you've done, Lumic, and it's killing them!”  
And the four of them legged it, hearing Lumic shouting after them.   
“Delete! Delete! Delete!”   
Things started to explode around them, small fires cropping up everywhere. All the exits they tried were blocked by squirming Cybermen - in executing their plan, they’d trapped themselves.   
“There's no way out!” The Doctor groaned. 

Jake took the steering wheel in his hands and started spinning it furiously. Mickey tried to nudge him out of the way. “What're you doing?”  
“We've got to get away. If that factory blows up, this balloon's going to ignite.”  
“Take it back!”  
“Mickey, they've had it!”  
“I said, take it back! We're not leaving them behind. There's no way we're leaving them behind!”  
Mickey briefly regained control and drove the Zeppelin back down, tucking his phone between his ear and his shoulder so he could still speak into it.   
“Rose? Rose, can you hear me? Head for the roof!”

Rose answered the phone, grabbing the Doctor’s arm. “It's Mickey. He says head for the roof.”   
Fires broke out behind them as they ran for it, Eris bringing up the rear.   
“Mickey, where'd you learn to fly that thing?”

Mickey couldn’t help himself smiling. “Playstation. Just hold on, Rose. I'm coming to get you.” He hung up, but Jake looked nervous.   
“You can't go any lower.”  
“I've got to.”  
“You're going to crush them.”   
The boys fought for control of the steering wheel for a moment, before spotting a lever labelled ‘ladder’.   
“Gotcha.” 

The Doctor, Rose, Eris and Pete made it up to the roof of the power station and stared at the Zeppelin in shock.   
“You've got to be kidding.” Pete gaped.   
They ran to the ladder, Rose climbing up first, followed by the Doctor, then Eris and Pete last. On board, Mickey switched on the speakers and called down to them.   
“Hold on tight, we're going up! Welcome to Mickey Smith Airlines. Please enjoy your flight. Woo!”  
The Zeppelin started to rise into the air and Rose cheered.   
“We did it! We did it!”   
Their victory was short lived though, as something heavy tugged at the very bottom of the ladder. Lumic. As the roof of the building burst into flames and Lumic started to climb towards them, the Doctor wrestled the sonic screwdriver out of his pocket and passed it downwards.   
“Pete! Take this! Use it! Hold the button down! Press it against the rope. Just do it!”   
Rose very nearly dropped it while trying to hand it to Eris, but it got to Pete safely. He did as instructed, hoping that the screwdriver would do it’s job.   
“Jackie Tyler. This is for her!”   
Finally, the rope snapped, and Lumic dropped into the flames below with a cry.   
They had done it. 

Less than an hour later, Rose and Pete were stood outside the Tardis, Pete staring at it dubiously.   
“So, what happens inside that thing, then?”  
“Do you want to see?”  
“No, I don't think so. But you two, you know, all that stuff you said about different worlds. Who are you?”   
She could feel her heart stuttering in her chest.   
“It's like you say. Imagine there are different worlds, parallel worlds. Worlds with another Pete Tyler and Jackie Tyler's still alive, and their daughter…”  
Pete shook his head, not sure how to react to what she was saying.   
“I've got to go.”  
“But if you just look inside.”  
“No, I can't. There's all those Lumic factories out there. All those Cybermen are still in storage. Someone's got to tell the authorities what happened, carry on the fight…”  
The Doctor poked his head out of the Tardis.   
“Rose? I've only got five minutes of power. We've got to go.”   
Rose tried to take Pete’s hand in hers. “The Doctor could show you.”  
He shook his head. “Thank you. For everything.”  
“Dad.”  
“Don't. Just, just don't.”  
As Pete walked briskly away, Mickey and Jake joined Rose. Mickey was carrying a bundle of brown fabric.   
“Here it is. I found it. Not a crease.”  
The Doctor grinned. “My suit! Good man.” He directed his next point to Jake. “Now then, Jake, we've got to run. But one more thing. Mrs Moore. Her real name was Angela Price. She's got a husband out there, and children. Find them. Tell them how she died saving the world.”  
“Yeah, of course I will.” Jake shook his hand.   
Eris stepped out of the Tardis. “Off we go, then.”   
She moved to give Jake a hug, before noticing the look on Mickey’s face.   
He was quiet for a moment, before dropping the bombshell  
“Er, thing is, I'm staying.”   
The Doctor stared at him in disbelief. “You're doing what?”  
Rose shook her head, tearful. “You can't.”  
“It sort of balances out, because this world lost its Ricky, but there's me. And there's work to be done with all those Cybermen still out there.” 

Eris pulled Mickey in, squeezing him as tightly as she could.   
“If you think it’s the right thing, then do it. You’re brilliant.”   
He hugged her back, relishing the moment. “Nah, I’m just me. Nothing special about Mickey Smith- Ouch!”  
She’d punched him in the arm. “Every world needs a Mickey Smith, that’s how special you are. So stop talking like that.”   
He broke the hug, giving her a mock salute. “Aye aye, captain.”   
Rose was struggling to stop herself from crying.   
“But you can't stay.”  
“Rose, my gran's here. She's still alive. My old gran, remember her?”  
“Yeah.”  
“She needs me.”  
“What about me? What if I need you?”  
Mickey raised an eyebrow. “Yeah, but Rose, you don't. It's just you and him, isn't it. We had something a long time ago, but not anymore.”  
She hugged him. “Well, we'll come back. We can travel anywhere. Come and see you, yeah?”  
Her hopeful look at the Doctor was met with a serious expression.   
“We can't. I told you, travel between parallel worlds is impossible. We only got here by accident. We… we fell through a crack in time. When we leave, I've got to close it. We can't ever return.”   
Mickey nodded, understanding, “Doctor.” and shook his hand.   
“Take Rose's phone. It's got the code. Get it out there. Stop those factories. And good luck, Mickey the idiot.”  
He laughed. “Watch it.”  
The Doctor and Eris returned to the Tardis, leaving the door open so Rose could follow. 

Rose was keeping a tight grip on her phone, unwilling to let it go until Mickey prised it from her fingers.   
He smiled softly. “Thanks. We've had a laugh though, haven't we? Seen it all, been there and back. Who would have thought, me and you off the old estate, flying through the stars.”  
“All those years just sitting there, imagining what we'd do one day. We never saw this, did we?” She couldn’t hold the tears back.   
“Go on, don't miss your flight.” He kissed her on the forehead and directed her towards the Tardis, watching as she stepped inside and closed the door behind her. “Jake, you want to watch this.”  
The Tardis started to dematerialise, and Jake’s jaw dropped.   
“What the hell?”  
Mickey grinned, savouring his last sight of the ship.  
“That's the Doctor in the Tardis with Rose Tyler.” 

Once the Tardis was gone, Mickey and Jake went back to the van. Sensing a little tension, Mickey spoke.   
“I know it's not easy with my face looking exactly like Ricky, but I'm a different man. I'm not replacing him. But we can remember him by fighting in his name. With all those Cyber factories out there, do you think they'll be one in Paris?”  
Jake shrugged. “Yeah.”  
“Then, let's go and liberate Paris.”  
“What, you and me, in a van?”  
Remembering, Mickey grinned. “There's nothing wrong with a van. I once saved the universe with a big yellow truck.”

The familiar sound of the kettle boiling was drowned out by the noise of the Tardis engines, and Jackie grinned. She ran into the living room just as the ship solidified, and Rose opened the door, staring at her mum with an odd look on her face.   
“You're alive. Oh mum, you're alive.”   
Jackie snorted. “Well, I was the last time I looked.” The joke didn’t go down well. “What is it? What's happened, sweetheart? What's wrong? Where did you go?” Rose’s face crumpled and she buried her face in Jackie’s shoulder.   
The Doctor leant against the side of the Tardis, an arm around Eris.  
“Far away. That was far away.”  
“Where's Mickey?”   
Eris smiled softly.   
“He's gone home.”


	8. The Idiot's Lantern

“I thought we'd be going for the Vegas era, you know the white flares and the… ooh, chest hair.”   
Rose breathed in deep, hands smoothing out her skirt as she looked around the street. She’d picked out a baby pink dress with a long skirt, matching pink heels and a cropped jacket in a blue a few shades lighter than the Tardis. It was one of her favourite wardrobe choices so far. The Doctor stuck his head around the door frame, his hair slicked back into a quiff and the usual inane grin plastered across his face.   
“You are kidding, aren't you? You want to see Elvis, you go for the late fifties. The time before burgers. When they called him the Pelvis and he still had a waist. What's more, you see him in style.”   
A growing rumble from inside the Tardis made her turn, and she gasped in delight as the Doctor rode a navy blue scooter onto the street, wearing a white crash helmet and shades to complete the look. He was followed by Eris on a scooter of her own, this one a charcoal grey. Her indigo dress fell gracefully to mid shin, contrasted by a short cream cardigan. 

The Doctor lowered his voice and raised an eyebrow.   
“You going my way, doll?”   
Rose put on an American accent, doing her best not to laugh. “Is there any other way to go, daddy-o? Straight from the fridge, man.”   
“Hey, you speak the lingo!”   
“Oh well. Me, mum, Cliff Richard movies every Bank Holiday Monday.”   
She sat on the back of his scooter and put on the pink crash helmet that he gave her, wrapping her arms around him once it was secure.   
“Ah, Cliff. I knew your mother would be a Cliff fan.”   
Eris adjusted her own helmet, the same grey shade as her scooter.   
“Which way are we heading?”   
The Doctor pointed forwards, and the three of them set off down the street. 

As they approached the junction, Eris started to have doubts about where they had landed.   
“So, where are we off to?”   
“Ed Sullivan TV Studios. Elvis did Hound Dog on one of the shows. There were loads of complaints. Bit of luck, we'll just catch it.”   
Rose started to catch on to her friend’s suspicions. “And that'll be TV studios in, what, New York?”  
“That's the one.”  
Before they could get onto the main road, they were cut off by a bright red London bus. The Doctor braked, stopping next to a red post box. As he looked around, the Union Flag bunting strung between the houses on the streets became obvious.   
Rose stifled her laughter in his shoulder. “Ha! Digging that New York vibe.”  
“Well, this could still be New York. I mean, this looks very New York to me. Sort of Londony New York, mind.”  
“What are all the flags for?”  
Eris caught their attention and nodded towards a van that was being unloaded nearby.  
“Let’s go and find out, shall we?” 

“There you go, sir, all wired up for the great occasion.” A middle aged man was chatting cheerfully to a young couple in their front garden, standing next to the van that they could now see was labelled ‘Magpie Electricals’.   
The Doctor shoved his hands in his pockets.   
“The great occasion? What do you mean?”  
The man - presumably Mr Magpie - gave him a funny look.  
“Where've you been living, out in the Colonies? Coronation, of course.”  
“What Coronation's that then?”  
“What do you mean? The Coronation.”  
Rose realised what he meant. “It's the Queen's. Queen Elizabeth.”  
The Doctor finally caught on. “Oh! Is this 1953?”   
At a volume only Rose could hear, Eris grumbled, “Wrong year, wrong place. As always.”   
Magpie was still staring at them oddly.   
“Last time I looked. Time for a lovely bit of pomp and circumstance, what we do best.”  
Looking at the houses around them, Rose noticed something that seemed out of place.   
“Look at all the TV aerials. Looks like everyone's got one. That's weird. My nan said tellies were so rare they all had to pile into one house.”  
“Not around here, love. Magpie's Marvellous Tellies, only five quid a pop.”  
The Doctor was grinning again.   
“Oh, but this is a brilliant year. Classic! Technicolour, Everest climbed, everything off the ration.” He slipped into the voice of a newsreader of the time. “The nation is throwing off the shadows of war and looking forward to a happier, brighter future.”

As if to directly contradict him, a commotion started a little way down the street.   
“Someone help me, please! Ted!”   
Two heavy set men in black suits were dragging a person out of a house and into the back of a car. His head was covered with a grey blanket. A woman, presumably the man's wife, was following them, crying.   
“Leave him alone! He's my husband! Please.”  
The trio ran towards the car, the Doctor in the lead.   
“What's going on?”   
They were joined by a teenage boy from a neighbouring house. “Oi, what are you doing?”  
A man in a long grey coat directed them away from the car.   
“Police business. Now, get out of the way, sir.”   
Rose turned her attention to the boy as the car drove away. “Who did they take? Do you know him?”  
He shrugged. “Must be Mr Gallagher. It's happening all over the place. They're turning into monsters.”   
A man, clearly the boy’s father, shouted at him from the doorway.   
“Tommy! Not one word! Get inside now!”  
Tommy glanced at them apologetically. “Sorry. I'd better do as he says.”  
Returning to their mopeds, the three of them followed the car. 

They did their best to follow the car for nearly five minutes, but it didn’t quite work out. Just as they thought they’d caught them, they turned left into a side street only to be faced by three market stalls in front of a solid wall. The stalls were being attended by a handful of men in aprons, and they looked entirely unbothered by the frenzied appearance of the people on the scooters. 

The Doctor frowned. “Lost them. How'd they get away from us?”   
Behind him, Rose looked a little shell-shocked.   
“Surprised they didn't turn back and arrest you for reckless driving. Have you actually passed your test?”  
On the other scooter, Eris cracked up laughing. “If you think that was bad, you should have seen him driving Bessie! I feared for my life most times he drove her.”   
He wasn’t really listening to their conversation, still staring at the market stalls.   
“Men in black? Vanishing police cars? This is Churchill's England, not Stalin's Russia.”   
Rose hummed thoughtfully.   
“Monsters, that boy said. Maybe we should go and ask the neighbours.”  
“That's what I like about you. The domestic approach.”  
“Thank you.” Noticing that Eris was disguising laughter with a coughing fit, she had second thoughts. “Hold on, was that an insult? Whoa!”  
Without any warning he floored it, speeding back to the street they had just come from and swerving dangerously on the road as he did so, followed by Eris - who was driving far more sensibly. 

Upon returning to Florizel Street, they decided that the best house to start with was the one that Tommy had emerged from earlier. Parking the scooters, the Doctor, Eris and Rose marched up to the frint door and rang the doorbell, waiting patiently for someone to answer. A stocky, grumpy looking man opened the door, and the three of them greeted him simultaneously.   
“Hi!”   
The man frowned at them. “Who are you, then?”  
The Doctor gave him a quick look over.   
“Let's see, then. Judging by the look of you, family man, nice house, decent wage, fought in the war, therefore I represent Queen and country.” He pulled the psychic paper from his pocket with a flourish. “Just doing a little check of Her forthcoming Majesty's subjects before the great day. Don't mind if I come in? Nah, I didn't think you did. Thank you.”   
And the three of them filed into the house, leaving the man standing in the doorway.   
The living room was very tidy, and Eris nodded appreciatively.   
“Not bad. Very nice. Very well kept. I'd like to congratulate you, Mrs?”  
A nervous looking woman with light brown hair held out a hand for her to shake.  
“Connolly.”  
Mr Connolly came back into the living room and decided to talk to the Doctor first, almost ignoring the presence of the girls.   
“Now then, Rita. I can handle this. This gentleman's a proper representative. Don't mind the wife, she rattles on a bit.”   
The Doctor raised an eyebrow.   
“Well, maybe she should rattle on a bit more. I'm not convinced you're doing your patriotic duty. Nice flags. Why are they not flying?”  
“There we are Rita, I told you, Get them up. Queen and country.”   
Rita avoided making eye contact with her husband. “I'm sorry, Eddie.”  
“Get it done. Do it now. Like the gentleman says.”   
The Doctor shook his head.   
“Hold on a minute. Hold on a minute. You've got hands, Mr Connolly. Two big hands. So why is that your wife's job?”   
Eddie pulled a face. “Well, it's housework, innit?”  
“And that's a woman's job?”  
“Of course it is.”  
“Mister Connolly, what gender is the Queen?”  
“She's a female.”   
Seeing where this was going, Eris and Rose smothered their giggles as the Doctor continued.   
“And are you suggesting the Queen does the housework?”  
“No. Not at all.”  
“Then get busy.”  
“Right. Yes, sir. You'll be proud of us, sir. We'll have Union Jacks left, right and centre.”  
Rose, unable to resist, jumped in. “Excuse me, Mr Connolly. Hang on a minute. Union Jacks?”  
“Yes, that's right, isn't it?”  
“That's the Union Flag. It's the Union Jack only when it's flown at sea.”  
Eddie was making an obvious effort to be polite. “Oh. Oh, I'm sorry, I do apologise.”   
“Well, don't get it wrong again, there's a good man. Now get to it!” 

The Doctor and Rose sat down on the sofa, and Eris perched on the arm next to them.   
“Right then! Nice and comfy, at Her Majesty's leisure. Union Flag?” The Doctor kept his voice low, raising an eyebrow at Rose.   
“Mum went out with a sailor.”  
“Oh ho ho ho. I bet she did.” He grinned at Tommy, gesturing to the empty seat. “Well, sit yourself down, Tommy. Have a look at this. I love telly, don't you?”   
He nodded. “Yeah, I think it's brilliant.”  
“Good man!”  
Eris called over her shoulder, “Keep working, Mr Connolly!” before turning back to look at Rita in the armchair. “Now, why don't you tell us what's wrong?”  
Rita’s voice was shaking. “Did you say you were a doctor?”  
He nodded. “Yes, I am.”  
“Can you help her? Oh please, can you help her, Doctor?”   
Eddie put the flags down. “Now then, Rita. I don't think the gentleman needs to know-”  
“No, the gentleman does.” The Doctor interrupted.   
Eris got up to stand next to Rita, rubbing her shoulder comfortingly. “Tell us what's wrong, and we can help.”   
Rita burst into tears, and Rose joined Eris by her side.   
“I'm sorry. It's all right. Come here. It's okay.”   
Eddie’s temper was clearly close to boiling over.   
“Hold on a minute. Queen and country's one thing, but this is my house! What the? What the hell am I doing? Now you listen here, Doctor. You may have fancy qualifications, but what goes on under my roof is my business.”   
The Doctor started. “A lot of people are being bundled into-”  
“I am talking!”  
“And I'm not listening!” The Doctor jumped to his feet. “Now you, Mr Connolly, you are staring into a deep, dark pit of trouble if you don't let me help. So I'm ordering you, sir! Tell me what's going on!”   
“That’s enough!” Eris put herself between them, glowering up at Mr Connolly. “Let us help you.”  
From above, an ominous noise started up. Thump. Thump. Thump.   
Eddie’s whole demeanor changed, and he was almost cowering.  
“She won't stop. She never stops.”   
Tommy sounded scared. “We started hearing stories, all around the place. People who've changed. Families that are keeping it secret because they were scared. Then the police started finding out. We don't know how, no one does. They just turn up, come to the door and take them, any time of the day or night.”   
Very concerned by the sound of this, the Doctor’s tone became serious.   
“Show us. Now.” 

Tommy led the way up to the locked bedroom, having argued briefly with his dad for the key before Eris and the Doctor stepped in. He unlocked the door, opening it to expose the darkness of the room behind it.   
“Gran? It's Tommy. It's all right, Gran. I've brought help.”  
He turned the light on, and Rose gasped. An old woman with grey hair, dressed in a pale blue housecoat was standing next to the bed. Everything about her was perfectly ordinary - except for her face. Or rather, her lack of it. There was nothing there, nothing whatsoever. Where her face should have been was a flat, smooth expanse of skin.   
The Doctor approached her cautiously, not wanting to startle her if she was still aware of everything going on around her. “Her face is completely gone.” He used the sonic screwdriver for a baseline scan. “Scarcely an electrical impulse left. Almost complete neural shutdown. She's ticking over. It's like her brain has been wiped clean.”   
Eris kept her voice low. “What could do something like this?”   
Tommy sounded like he was trying to hold back tears.  
“What're we going to do, Doctor? We can't even feed her.”   
Before he could answer, they heard a massive crash downstairs.   
Rita wailed. “It's them. They've come for her!”   
The Doctor turned to her, grabbing her shoulders.   
“Quickly. What was she doing before this happened? Where was she? Tell me. Quickly, think!”  
Rita shook her head, and Tommy answered for her.   
“I can't think! She doesn't leave the house! She was just-”  
He was cut off by the appearance of two muscular men in black. The Doctor blocked them.   
“Hold on a minute. There are three important, brilliant, and complicated reasons why you should listen to me. One-”  
The closest man punched the Doctor squarely in the face, knocking him to the floor.   
“Doctor!” As Rose ducked to make sure he was alright and Eris pulled Tommy out of harm’s way, the men threw a blanket over the old woman’s head and dragged her out of the room, leading her down the stairs.   
“Leave her alone! No! Don't hurt her!” Rita tried to follow them, but Eddie stopped her.   
“Back inside, Rita.”  
“She's my mother.”  
“Back inside now, I said.” 

As Tommy ran to join his family, the Doctor sat up suddenly, almost smashing his head against Rose’s as he did so.   
“Ah, hell of a right hook. Have to watch out for that.”  
Eris got his attention. “Come on, we don’t have time for this. They took her.”   
The trio ran down the stairs, only to see Eddie and Rita in the doorway. Eddie was holding his wife tight.  
“Don't fight it. Back inside. Get back inside!”  
The Doctor shoved his way past them, shouting over his shoulder as he did so.   
“You two, come on!”   
But Rose had stopped at the door to the living room, directing Eris’ attention to suspicious fronds of red energy snaking over the family’s television set.   
“Rose, we're going to lose them again!”   
Sat on his scooter, the Doctor decided that if he waited any longer they would lose them again, and left the girls behind.   
In the living room, Rose and Eris were examining the back of the television, being careful not to let any of the energy touch them. It vanished into the aerial connection, and Rose saw the name on the supply label.   
“Magpie. Isn’t that the man we met before?”   
“Yep. I think I saw his shop on the way here, fancy paying him a visit?”   
As the two of them got up to leave, the Connollys came back inside.   
Tommy was visibly upset as he tried to comfort his mum.  
“Anyway, how did they find her? Who told them?”   
Eddie set eyes on the girls, and snapped. “You! Get the hell out of my house!”   
Rose raised her hands in surrender.   
“We’re going. We’re done. Nice to meet you, Tommy, Mrs Connolly. And as for you, Mister Connolly, only an idiot hangs the Union Flag upside down. Shame on you!”   
Grinning at the man’s hurt expression, the two of them left the house and hopped on to Eris’ scooter. Rose took the helmet - Eris had offered it to her, it’s not like any head injuries she might sustain would be permanent. Besides, she was a far better driver than her dad. 

This time, the Doctor had been fast enough to see the market stalls move into place in front of the wall, and he understood. Why else would two market stalls be fully set up in the middle of the night?   
“Oh, very good. Very good.”   
Parking the scooter, he spotted a smaller door next to the gates. The sonic screwdriver made short work of the lock, and he broke in.   
He watched from afar as the two burly men from the house put a padlock on a door, before walking away. Using the sonic again, he entered an area containing several large cages - every single one of them was filled with people. He unlocked the nearest one and pulled the door up behind him, examining the prisoners closely. Every single one of them was completely faceless, clenching their fists repetitively. His torchlight seemed to catch their attention, even though their eyes were gone. The area around him suddenly became much brighter and the people shied away. He turned to see that searchlights had been turned on behind him, and that a man was silhouetted in front of them.   
“Stay where you are.”

The bell on the door of Magpie’s shop chimed as the girls walked in. Magpie looked up, a little alarmed. “Oh, I'm sorry, Misses. I'm afraid you're too late. I was just about to lock the door.”   
Rose folded her arms. “Yeah? Well, I want to buy a telly.”  
“Come back tomorrow, please.”  
Eris frowned. “You'll be closed, won't you?”  
“What?”  
“For the big day? The coronation.”  
Magpie nodded. “Yes, yes, of course. The big day. I'm sure you'll find somewhere to watch it. Please go.”  
Rose watched him. “Seems to me half of London's got a television, since you're practically giving them away.”  
“I have my reasons.”  
“And what are they?”  
On one of the screens on the wall, a woman’s face appeared. She looked to be in her forties, and was repeating one word over and over.   
“Hungry! Hungry!”  
“What's that?”  
Magpie was getting more anxious by the second. “It's just a television. One of these modern programmes. Now, I really do think you should leave. Right now!”  
Eris shook her head. Not until you've answered our questions. How come your televisions are so cheap?”   
“It's my patriotic duty. Seems only right that as many folk as possible get to watch the coronation. We may be losing the Empire but we can still be proud. Twenty million people they reckon'll be watching. Imagine that.” He started to usher them both towards the door. “And twenty million people can't be wrong, eh, so why don't you get yourself back home and get up, bright and early, for the big day.”  
Rose stood her ground. “Nah, I'm not leaving till I've seen everything.”  
“I need to close.”  
“Mister Magpie, something's happening out there. Ordinary people are being struck down and changed, and the only new thing in the house is a television. Your television. What's going on?”  
He sighed. “I knew this would happen. I knew I'd be found out.” Quietly, he locked the shop door.   
Eris shrugged. “Alright, then, it's just us here. Are you going to come clean, then? What's really in it for you?”   
“For me? Perhaps some peace.”  
“From what?”  
“From her.” He nodded towards the woman on the screen.   
Rose laughed. “That's just a woman on the telly. That's just a programme.”  
The woman spoke. “What pretty little girls.”   
“Oh, my God. Are you talking to us?”   
“Yes I'm talking to you, little one. Unseasonably chilly for the time of year, don't you think?”   
Moving slightly closer to Rose, Eris asked,   
“What are you?”  
“I'm the Wire, and I'm hungry!”   
Bright bolts of energy lanced out from the screen and latched onto Rose’s face for the briefest of moments. She screamed.  
“Help me!”   
Eris shoved her roughly out of the way, knocking her roughly to the floor. She was aware that Rose had hit her head quite hard, then everything went dark as the Wire’s energy targeted her instead.   
Magpie watched, sickened.   
“Just think of that audience tomorrow, my dears, all settling down to watch the coronation. Twenty million people. Things will never be the same again. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry.”  
The Wire cackled.   
“Goodnight, children, everywhere.”

The Doctor had been taken to a makeshift office inside the derelict building and sat down at a desk, with the man who’d brought him there standing on the other side.   
“Start from the beginning. Tell me everything you know.”  
“Well, for starters, I know you can't wrap your hand around your elbow and make your fingers meet.”  
“Don't get clever with me. You were there today at Florizel Street, and now breaking into this establishment. Now you're connected with this. Make no mistake.”   
He shrugged. “Well, the thing is, Detective Inspector Bishop-”  
“How do you know my name?” The policeman was taken aback.   
“It's written inside your collar. Bless your mum. But I can't help thinking, Detective Inspector, you're not exactly doing much detective inspecting, are you?”  
“I'm doing everything in my power.”  
“All you're doing is grabbing those faceless people and hiding them as fast as you can. Don't tell me orders from above, hmm? Coronation Day. The eyes of the world are on London Town so any sort of problem just gets swept out of sight.”   
“The nation has an image to maintain.”  
The Doctor rolled his eyes. “But doesn't it drive you mad, doing nothing? Don't you want to get out there and investigate?”  
Bishop looked uncomfortable.   
“Of course I do. But, with all the crowds expected, we haven't got the man power. Even if we did, this is beyond anything we've ever seen. I just don't know anymore. Twenty years on the force, I don't even know where to start. We haven't the faintest clue what's going on.” He sat down heavily, looking defeated.   
“Well, that could change.”  
“How?”  
The Doctor stood, mirroring the position they had started in.  
“Start from the beginning. Tell me everything you know.”

Trusting that the Doctor could actually assist them, Bishop led him over to their investigation wall.   
“We started finding them about a month ago. Persons left sans visage. Heads just blank.”  
“Is there any sort of pattern?”  
“Yes, spreading out from North London. All over the city. Men, women, kids, grannies. The only real lead is there's been quite a large number in-”  
Looking at a map of the cases, the Doctor figured it out. “Florizel Street.”   
A commotion outside the office interrupted them, and a familiar blonde burst through the office door.   
“Rose?”   
She looked distraught, and was so out of breath that she could barely get a word out. There were obvious tear tracks on her cheeks.   
He tried again. “Rose, what’s wrong?”   
One of Bishop’s men led a figure covered with a blanket into the room.   
“Found another one, sir.”  
A little disturbed by the appearance of the girl, Bishop tried to get back to normal procedures.   
“Oh, er, good man, Crabtree. Here we are, Doctor. Take a good look. See what you can deduce.”   
Between the look on Rose’s face and the indigo skirt, the Doctor figured it out before the blanket was even removed. As it was taken away, he felt his hearts shatter.   
“Eris.”   
The blank piece of skin where her face should have been was framed by her brown curls, pale and plain.   
Bishop frowned. “You know her?”  
“Know her?”   
He was still vaguely aware of the conversation going on in the background as he squeezed her hand, slightly reassured as he felt the faintest of squeezes back. She was still in there somewhere.   
“They found her in the street... abandoned.”  
“That's unusual. That's the first one out in the open. Heaven help us if something happens in public tomorrow for the big day. We'll have Torchwood on our backs then, make no mistake.”  
“They did what?” His voice was shaking.   
“I'm sorry?”  
“They left her where?”   
Rose sniffled, wiping her eyes. “I don’t really remember what happened, or where we were. I hit my head, I think she pushed me. I woke up in the street, and she was just… standing there. I’m sorry, I don’t know what happened!”   
The Doctor pulled her into a short, strong hug, before turning to face Bishop.   
“In the street. They left them in the street. They took my daughter’s face and just chucked her out and left her in the street, and threw Rose out there with her. And as a result, that makes things simple. Very, very simple. Do you know why?”  
Bishop wasn’t really sure what was going on. “No.”  
“Because now, Detective Inspector Bishop, there is no power on this Earth that can stop me. Come on!”

In the living room, Tommy was doing his best to keep a lid on his anger. Surrounded by excitable family members, he didn’t want to be the one to spoil their celebrations. Unfortunately, that wasn’t made any easier by the presence of his father.   
“Here we go, everyone. Here we go. Grub's up, grub's up. Tuck in, everyone. Tuck in. Take a sandwich. Oh, here we go, here we go, it's started. Look, look. Take your places. Sit down, sit down. That's it. There we are.” Eddie sat in his favourite chair.   
Rita’s sister Betty was watching the television screen in awe.   
“Rita, love. Just look at that telly box then. Innit marvellous. The picture's so clear.”   
“Here, Bet. I says to Rita, I says, you didn't need to get your hair done special, love. The Queen won't be able to see you!”   
They laughed at his joke, Betty not realising the malice in it.   
“Where's your old mum, then? She can't go missing it.”  
Rita smiled sadly. “Sorry. Er, mum can't make it down.”  
“Oh, bless her. Maybe we could pop up and see her later.”  
Tommy jumped at the opportunity. “Maybe you could. It's a good idea. What do you think, dad? Maybe Aunty Betty can go and see Gran later?”   
Eddie forced out a laugh. “Oh, he loves his Gran, this one. Proper little mummy's boy all round.”  
Betty raised an eyebrow.  
“Oh, you know what they say about them. Eddie, you want to beat that out of him.”  
“That's exactly what I'm going to do.” Eddie directed a glare at his son.   
The doorbell rang several times in a few seconds, and Tommy jumped to his feet.  
“I'll get it.”   
As he moved towards the front door, he could hear the reporter’s voiceover on the telly.   
“...will first appear in about ten minutes time riding in the Gold Coach of State.”

Upon opening the front door, Tommy made eye contact with the Doctor. He got straight to it.   
“Tommy, talk to me. I need to know exactly what happened inside your house.”   
Eddie shoved his way past Tommy and closed the door behind them both so they wouldn’t be overheard by those inside.   
“What the blazes do you think you're doing?”  
“I want to help, dad.”   
The Doctor tried to get the conversation back on track. “Mr Connolly-”  
“Shut your face, you, whoever you are. We can handle this ourselves. Listen, you little twerp. You're hardly out of the blooming' cradle, so I don't expect you to understand. But I've got a position to maintain. People round here respect me. It matters what people think.”   
Tommy’s eyes narrowed. “Is that why you did it, dad?”  
“What do you mean? Did what?”  
“You ratted on Gran. How else would the police know where to look, unless some coward told them.”  
Eddie exploded. “How dare you! Do you think I fought a war just so a mouthy little scum like you could call me a coward?”  
“You don't get it, do you? You fought against fascism, remember? People telling you how to live, who you could be friends with, who you could fall in love with, who could live and who had to die. Don't you get it? You were fighting so that little twerps like me could do what we want, say what we want. Now you've become just like them. You've been informing on everyone, haven't you? Even Gran. All to protect your precious reputation.”  
“Eddie, is that true?” Rita had come to the door, and was staring at her husband in shock.   
He floundered a little. “I did it for us, Rita. She was filthy. A filthy, disgusting thing!”  
“She's my mother. All the others you informed on, all the people in our street, our friends!”  
“I had to. I... I did the right thing.”  
“The right thing for us or for you, Eddie? You go, Tommy. Go with the Doctor and Rose and do some good. Get away from this house, it's poison. We had a ruddy monster under this roof, all right, but it weren't my mother!”   
Rita slammed the door shut on him, and Eddie turned to hammer at the door again.   
Rose held out a hand. “Tommy?”   
The boy accepted it, and they set off. 

Trestle tables were being set up along the whole length of the street as they passed.   
“Tommy, tell me about that night. The night she changed.”   
“She was just watching the telly.”   
A flicker of memory came back. “Magpie!” Rose grabbed the Doctor’s arm.   
He ran a hand through his hair. “Oh Rose, you said it. You guessed it straight away. Of course you did. All these aerials in one little street. How come?”   
Tommy nodded. “That’s the bloke up the road, Mr Magpie. He's selling them cheap.”   
That piqued Bishop’s interest. “Is he, now?”  
“Come on!” The Doctor grabbed Rose’s hand and dragged her in the right direction. 

“Here, you can't do that!” Bishop was scandalised by the fact that the Doctor was blatantly breaking into Magpie’s shop, but the man didn’t seem to care.   
“Shop! If you're here, come out and talk to me! Magpie!” The Doctor pounded the bell on the shop counter, and got no response.   
Tommy shrugged. “Maybe he's out.”  
Rose nodded, agreeing with the boy. “Looks like it.”   
The Doctor wasn’t really listening, rummaging frantically through the drawers of the counter. He cheered as he found what he was looking for.   
“Oh, hello. This isn't right. This is very much not right. Tastes like iron. Bakelite. Put together with human hands, yes, but the design itself. Oh, beautiful work. That is so simple.”   
Bishop stared at the device in awe.   
“That's incredible. It's like a television, but portable. A portable television.”   
Rose took the thing from the Doctor and examined it: looked like a small radio, but the dials had been replaced with a screen the size of a post-it note.   
“It's not the only power source in this room.” Raising the sonic screwdriver, he used it to trace the second power source. The televisions in the bank against the wall lit up, each with a different pale face in the centre of the screen.   
Tommy’s heart sank as he recognised the face of his gran in the middle of the wall. He pointed, but the Doctor and Rose had already seen another face.   
In comparison to the others that were trapped, Eris looked remarkably calm. The Doctor rested a hand against her screen, staring at her face. Her eyes flickered up to meet his, like she knew he was there - and she started to speak. Obviously, they couldn’t hear her; but they could read her lips.   
“I’ll see you soon.”   
Rose rested a hand on his shoulder, smiling reassuringly. “We’re on our way.” 

Magpie - who had somehow managed not to hear all the commotion in the shop while he’d been in the back - came through to confront them, furious.   
“What do you think you're doing?”   
The Doctor’s voice was little more than a snarl.   
“I want my friend restored, and I think that's beyond a little backstreet electrician, so tell me, who's really in charge here?”   
From one of the televisions, an upper class woman’s voice answered.   
“Yoo hoo! I think that must be me. Ooh, this one's smart as paint.”  
Bishop gasped. “Is she talking to us?”  
Magpie shook his head. “I'm sorry, folks, I'm afraid you've brought this on yourselves. May I introduce you to my new friend.”  
“Jolly nice to meet you.”  
“Oh my God, it's her, that woman off the telly!” Bishop stared between Magpie and the woman.   
The Doctor shook his head. “No, it's just using her image.”  
Tommy looked terrified. “What? What are you?”  
“I'm the Wire, and I will gobble you up, pretty boy. Every last morsel. And when I have feasted, I shall regain the corporeal body, which my fellow kind denied me.” The image on the screen developed colour briefly, before fading back to black and white again.   
Bishop took a step back. “Good Lord. Colour television!”   
“So your own people tried to stop you?” Rose frowned, trying to catch up with what was going on.   
The Wire sniffed haughtily. “They executed me. But I escaped in this form and fled across the stars.”  
“And now you're trapped in the television.” The Doctor raised an eyebrow.   
“Not for much longer.”  
“Doctor, is this what got my Gran?”  
“Yes, Tommy. It feeds off the electrical activity of the brain, but it gorges itself like a great overfed pig, taking people's faces, their essences. It stuffs itself.”  
Bishop sneered at the man cowering in the corner. “And you let her do it, Magpie.”  
Magpie got defensive. “I had to. She allowed me my face. She's promised to release me at the time of manifestation.”  
Tommy frowned. “What does that mean?”  
The Wire cackled. “The appointed time. My crowning glory.”  
Rose was the first to realise. “Doctor, the coronation!”  
He nodded.   
"For the first time in history, millions gathered around a television set. But you're not strong enough yet, are you? You can't do it all from here. That's why you need this.” He pointed to the portable television. “You need something more powerful! This will turn a big transmitter into a big receiver.”  
The Wire smiled. “What a clever thing you are! But why fret about it? Why not just relax? Kick off your shoes and enjoy the Coronation. Believe me, you'll be glued to the screen.”   
Beams of energy shot from the screen and latched onto each of their faces.   
“Hungry! Hungry! The Wire is hungry! Ah, this one is tasty. Oh, I'll have lashings of him! Delicious!”   
As the creature started to focus her attention on the Doctor, he slipped the sonic screwdriver from his pocket and, moving slowly, aimed it at the screen. The Wire noticed his movement.  
“Ah! Armed. He's armed and clever. Withdraw! Withdraw!”   
The energy receded, and the four of them dropped to the floor, unconscious.   
“The box, Magpie! The box!”   
He followed her orders and held the portable up.   
“Hold tight.”   
There was a zap, and the Wire transferred herself into the handheld device.   
“Conduct me to my victory, Magpie.”   
Reluctant, Magpie took the box out to his van and started the engine - starting the final stage of the plan. 

The Doctor was the first to wake, pawing at his face to make sure it was still there before turning to check on the others. Rose and Tommy were merely unconscious, Bishop had not been so lucky. Deciding he was a lost cause, he focused his attention on the two who still had faces.   
“Tommy, wake up. Rose, come on!”  
Tommy groaned, a little groggy. “What happened?”  
“Where's Magpie?” Rose let the Doctor help her off the floor, and they exited the shop.   
“We don't even know where to start looking. It's too late.”   
The Doctor shook his head, looking up and down the street.   
“It's never too late, as a wise person once said.”   
Rose looked at him strangely. “Isn’t that from a Kylie song?”   
“Probably. The Wire's got big plans. It... Yes, yes, yes, it's got to harvest half the population. Millions and millions of people and where are we?”   
Tommy hadn’t expected the question, and it took him a moment to answer. “Muswell Hill.”  
“Muswell Hill. Muswell Hill! Which means Alexandra Palace, the biggest TV transmitter in North London. Oh, that's why it chose this place. Tommy?”  
“What are you going to do?”  
“We're going shopping.”

The Doctor had practically torn Magpie’s shop to pieces, with Rose and Tommy’s help, the pair of them rooting through drawers and back rooms to find seemingly random bits of electrical equipment to add to the Doctor’s machine. Tommy surfaced with a large valve in one hand.   
“Is this what you want?”  
He grinned. “Perfect! Right, I need one more thing.” Handing the device to Tommy, the Doctor dragged Rose into the Tardis to help him look for the last piece.   
“It’s a circuit, probably round and it’s got blue and green wires, ok?”   
“Like this?” Rose held up the piece she’d found under the part of the console that looked like a toaster.   
“Perfect!” They rejoined Tommy in the street. “Got it. Let's go!”

As they approached Alexandra Palace, they could hear Magpie’s voice - close, but far away.   
“I can’t do this! Please, please don't make me!”  
The Wire seemed totally apathetic to his pleas. “The time is at hand. Feed me! Feed me!”  
“Up there!” Tommy pointed.   
The three of them rushed past a guard.   
“Wait, wait, wait! Where do you think-” The Doctor simply flashed the psychic paper at him, and the man’s tone changed completely. “Oh! I'm very sorry, sir. Shouldn't you be at the Coronation?”   
“They're saving me a seat.”   
Rose grinned. “I love that paper. Who did he think you were?”  
He shrugged, nudging open the door to the control room under the tower.   
“King of Belgium, apparently!”  
Wiring the device into the control bank, the Doctor told them his plan.   
“Keep this switched on. Don't let anyone stop you, Tommy. Everything depends on it. You understand?” When the boy nodded, he turned to Rose. “I need you to hang onto this, alright? Just in case the electricity jumps.” 

They reached the roof, and Rose took the grounding rod as the Doctor started to climb. He was gaining on Magpie quickly, and could soon hear his conversation with the Wire.   
“Feed me!”   
Magpie plugged the device into the power mast. Red fronds of energy streamed out to meet every antennae on every house in London, probably further beyond too.   
“Oh. Feast. Feasting. The Wire is feasting.”  
The Doctor got level with Magpie, and the man tried to warn him away.   
“It's too late! It's too late for all of us!”  
“I shall consume you, Doctor.”  
“I won't let you do this, Magpie!”  
He started to sob. “Help me, Doctor. It burns. It took my face, my soul.”  
“You cannot stop the Wire. Soon I shall become manifest.”  
“No more of this. You promised me peace!”  
The Wire cackled unkindly. “And peace you shall have.”   
She extended energy to Magpie, atomising him instantly.   
The Doctor took the device in his hands. “Been burning the candle at both ends? You've overextended yourself, Missis. You shouldn't have had a crack at poor old Magpie there.”   
She tried to electrocute him, but the shock had little effect.   
“Rubber soles, swear by them!”  
He plugged a small circuit piece into the back of the box, but nothing seemed to happen. His face dropped.   
“Oh dear. Has our little plan gone horribly wrong, Doctor?”   
Suddenly, with a haze of sparks, the red energy retreated back into the mast, streaming back the way it had come and overloading the box.   
“No!”  
“It's close down, I'm afraid, and no epilogue.”   
The Wire screeched in agony, before the screen blinked into pure blackness.   
“Doctor!”   
He looked down to see Rose, waving frantically up at him.   
“Are you ok up there?”   
“Yep! Got it all fixed. I’m coming down now!” 

Back in the control room, Tommy kept looking nervously between the monitors and the door, only relaxing when the Doctor and Rose came in.   
“So! What have we missed?” Rose grinned at him.   
“Doctor! Rose, what happened?!  
The Doctor shrugged. “Sorted. Electrical creature, TV technology, clever alien life form. That's me by the way. I turned the receiver back into a transmitter and I trapped the Wire in here.” He waved a VCR tape cheerfully. “I just invented the home video thirty years early. Betamax. Oh, look. God save the Queen, eh?”

The yard outside the building that the police had been using was now full of people milling about, talking eagerly to each other. The Doctor and Rose had led Tommy there, and the boy turned to grin widely at them as he spotted the person he was looking for.   
“Gran!”   
She turned, her eyes glistening behind her glasses.   
“Oh, it's my grandson, Oh, son!”   
As Tommy ran to hug her, the others scanned the area for the face they were searching for. And there she was. Eris was crouched gracefully in front of two young children, who looked a little scared. The sound of footsteps made her turn, and she stood up straight and moved out of the way as a couple, clearly the children’s parents, swept them up. Leaving them to it, she walked away - and made eye contact with her dad.   
He ran at her, almost knocking her over with the force of his hug. Rose laughed as Eris made him put her down so she could hug her best friend too.   
“Hi you.”   
“I’m sorry I couldn’t-”   
“Oh shut up!” Eris laughed. “If I hadn’t shoved you out of the way then it would have been you who’s face was taken. And I couldn’t let that happen.”   
The Doctor pulled them both into a hug, resting his chin on the top of Eris’ head.  
“You sure you’re okay?”   
“I promise. Thanks for getting me out of there.”   
He started leading them out of the yard.   
“Come on. Let’s go and join in with the fun.” 

Back on Florizel street, Rose grinned at the street party buzzing around them. “We could go down the Mall, join in with the crowds.”  
“Nah, that's just pomp and circumstance. This is history right here.” The Doctor looked fondly at the celebrating humans - he loved their ability to find any excuse for a party.   
“The domestic approach.”  
“Exactly.”  
“Will it, that thing, is it trapped for good on video?”  
“Hope so. Just to be on the safe side though, I'll use my unrivalled knowledge of transtemporal extirpation methods to neutralise the residual electronic pattern.”  
Rose stared blankly at him. “You what?”   
Eris rolled her eyes, poking him in the ribs. “He means he’s going to tape over it.”   
Grateful for the explanation, the blonde laughed. “Just leave it to me. I'm always doing that.”  
They spotted Tommy leaning against the table, and the Doctor walked over to him, patting the boy on the shoulder.   
“Tell you what, Tommy, you can have the scooter. Little present. Best, er, keep it in the garage for a few years though, eh?” 

Tommy managed a smile, before the expression faded as his eyes focused on something further down the street.   
“Good riddance.”   
The trio looked in the same direction, and saw Eddie leaving his house, carrying a heavy suitcase.   
“Is that it, then, Tommy? New monarch, new age, new world. No room for a man like Eddie Connelly.”  
“That's right. He deserves it.”   
Rose shot him a sympathetic look. “Tommy, go after him.”  
“What for?”  
“He's your dad.”  
Tommy scoffed. “He's an idiot.”  
Eris smirked. “Of course he is. Like Rose said, he's your dad.”   
Rose continued. “But you're clever. Clever enough to save the world, so don't stop there. Go on.”   
He thought about it for a second, before running over to his father and holding out a hand, offering to take his suitcase. As Eddie accepted the offer, the Doctor passed a glass of orange juice to the girls, raising his own in a toast.   
“To us.”  
“To saving the world again!”  
“To the domestic approach.”  
They grinned, downed their drinks, and rejoined the main throng of partiers.


	9. The Impossible Planet

From the very beginning, the whole journey had been… weird. Even with the best efforts of both the Doctor and Eris, the Tardis had been reacting strangely to something, and the landing had been particularly difficult. They’d managed to materialise, but it had almost felt like the old girl was begging to go anywhere else. A little uneasy, Eris led the way out of the ship and into the tight space they had landed in.   
“Something definitely isn’t right with her.”   
The Doctor agreed. “I don't know what's wrong though. She's sort of queasy. Indigestion, like she didn't want to land.”   
He patted the doors lovingly, and Rose pulled a face.   
“Oh, if you think there's going to be trouble, we could always get back inside and go somewhere else…”  
There was the tiniest of pauses, then the three of them burst into hysterics. Between laughs, the Doctor managed to gasp out.  
“I think we've landed inside a cupboard. Here we go.” 

The voice of the computer narrated their actions, “Open door 15.” as they stepped out into a corridor.   
The Doctor hummed thoughtfully. “Some sort of base. Moon base, sea base, space base. They build these things out of kits.”   
“Close door 15.”   
A cacophony of crashes from above made Rose a little uneasy.   
“Glad we're indoors. Sounds like a hell of a storm out there.”  
“Open door 16.”  
As they came into another corridor, the Doctor ignored Rose’s comment entirely.   
“Human design. You've got a thing about kits. This place was put together like a flat pack wardrobe, only bigger. And easier.”   
“Open door 17.” 

The three of them entered a large, circular room, and the Doctor’s smile brightened.   
“Oh, it's a sanctuary base.”  
“Close door 17.”  
“Deep space exploration. We've gone way out. And listen to that, underneath. Someone's drilling.”   
Both girls listened closely, and they could hear it too - the soft rumble of machinery, deep underneath them. Graffiti on a far wall caught Rose’s eye, and she snorted.   
“Welcome to hell.”   
The Doctor rolled his eyes. “Oh, it's not that bad.”   
Frowning, Eris weaved her way around a few chairs to get to the panel.   
“No, over here.”   
The words Rose had quoted were painted on the wall in big block letters, a headline for the twelve lines of vertical alien script beneath it.   
Joining his daughter, the Doctor’s smile dropped.   
“Hold on, what does that say?” He squinted at the characters. “That's weird, it won't translate.”   
Eris was tracing over the shapes with a finger.   
“There’s got to be a pattern, at least. It’s written similarly to Japanese, so maybe this can be read right to left? Some of these loops look similar…”   
Resting a hand on each of her friends’ shoulders, Rose peered at the scribbles again.   
“But I thought the Tardis translated everything, writing as well. We should see English.”   
The Doctor ran a hand through his hair.   
“Exactly. If that's not working, then it means this writing is old. Very old. Impossibly old. We should find out who's in charge.”   
Standing up straight, he marched over to the nearest door and started to spin the locking wheel.   
“We've gone beyond the reach of the Tardis' knowledge. Not a good move. And if someone's lucky enough-”  
“Open door 19.”   
He was cut off by the appearance of five or so humanoid aliens - at least, they were humanoid from the neck downwards. Clusters of tentacles hung from the area where the nose and mouth should have been, below harshly wrinkled foreheads and watery grey eyes. Each of them carried a white globe in their right hand. A little unnerved, the Doctor backed up.   
“Oh! Right. Hello. Sorry. I was just saying, er, nice base.”  
“We must feed.” Their voices were softly apathetic, with no hint of emotion.   
“You've got to what?”  
“We must feed.”   
Appearing at his shoulder, Rose pulled him away from the door.   
“Yeah. I think they mean us.”   
As Eris joined them and they moved further back into the room, the beings approached them.   
“We must feed. We must feed. We must feed. We must feed.”  
More of the things entered from the other doors leading in, and the trio moved to the very centre of the room, running out of options. Rose and Eris decided on using nearby chairs to defend themselves, while the Doctor relied on the sonic screwdriver.   
“We must feed. We must feed. We must feed. We must feed. We must feed. We must feed. We must feed. We must feed. We must feed. We must feed. We must feed...”   
The being closest to them shook the globe it held, and tapped it a few times.   
“-you, if you are hungry.”   
Exchanging bewildered looks with the others, the Doctor stared at the alien,  
“Sorry?”  
“We apologise. Electromagnetics have interfered with speech systems. Would you like some refreshment?” 

Before any of them could come up with a coherent response, the computerised voice blared out again.   
“Open door 18.”   
A middle aged man and a couple of young looking people in what looked like security guard’s uniforms entered the room. The man in the lead spoke first.   
“What the hell? How did…?” He brought his wrist-communicator up to his face, not taking his eyes off the trio in the centre of the room.   
“Captain, you're not going to believe this. We've got people. Out of nowhere. I mean, real people. I mean two living people, just standing here right in front of me.”   
A man’s voice came back.   
“Don't be stupid, that's impossible.”  
“I suggest telling them that.”  
Rose pulled a face. “But you're a sort of space base. You must have visitors now and then. It can't be that impossible.”  
“You're telling me you don't know where you are?”  
Eris shrugged. “No idea. He claims it’s more fun that way.”   
A young woman’s voice sounded over the open tannoy system.   
“Stand by, everyone. Buckle down. We have incoming. And it's a big one. Quake point five on its way.”  
He gestured towards the door that he’d come through.   
“Through here, now. Quickly, come on! Move!”

The man who’d found them - Mr Jefferson, who’d introduced himself as head of security - led them through a twisting maze of corridors towards some sort of central hub. Above them, conduits banged loudly, making Rose worry slightly about the structure’s stability. Jefferson ushered them forwards.   
“Move it! Come on! Keep moving. Come on! Quickly! Move it!”   
At the end of their current hallway was a door, and when they arrived at it Jefferson reached past them to open it, revealing a busy control hub of people behind it. As the trio followed him in, everyone stared at them in shock.   
“Oh, my God. You meant it.” A black man in his late twenties peered at them like he didn’t believe they existed.   
On the other side of the central desk, a girl about Rose’s age grinned at them.  
“People! Look at that, real people!”  
The Doctor beamed back at her. “That's us. Hooray!”  
Eris reached out to shake the hand of a bewildered looking Asian man. “Yep, we were definitely real the last time I checked. Nice to meet you!”   
Not wanting to look rude, Rose joined in.   
“Yeah, definitely real. My name's Rose. Rose Tyler. And this Eris, and the Doctor.”   
The man Eris had shaken hands with scoffed.   
“Come on the oxygen must be offline. We're hallucinating. They can't be. No, they're real.”  
Banging a hand on the desk, the black man - presumably the crew’s captain, by the way he took charge - got everyone’s attention.   
“Come on, we're in the middle of an alert! Danny, strap up. The quake's coming in! Impact in thirty seconds! Sorry you three, whoever you are. Just hold on, tight.”   
“Hold on to what?” Rose frowned, not seeing much around them that looked like it could be of any use.   
“Anything. I don't care. Just hold on. Ood, are we fixed?”  
Compared to the rest of the crew, the Ood were incredibly calm.  
“Your kindness in this emergency is much appreciated.”   
Curious, the Doctor asked, “What's this planet called, anyway?”  
A woman in her early thirties raised an eyebrow at the three of them.   
“Now, don't be stupid. It hasn't got a name. How could it have a name?” The blank look on their faces confused her. “You really don't know, do you?”  
Before the conversation could continue, the entire place shook beneath their feet. It really wasn’t too bad, and the trio by the doorway managed to stay upright fairly well. They’d had worse turbulence on the Tardis! 

As always, the Doctor opened his mouth just before the situation got worse.   
“Oh, well, that wasn't so bad.”   
This time, several of the peripheral consoles burst into flames, and the shakes were far more violent. Eris and Rose were hanging onto each other and a couple of wobbly handrails in an attempt to stay on their feet, and the Doctor ended up leaning heavily against the door they’d just walked through. Once the shakes subsided, the captain checked on his crew.  
“Okay, that's it. Everyone all right? Speak to me, Ida.”  
“Yeah, yeah!” This was the woman who’d started explaining the lack of name.   
“Danny?”  
The man who’d believed they were figments of his imagination. “Fine.”  
“Toby?”   
A slender, pale man in a far corner of the control room. “Yeah, fine.”   
“Scooti?”  
“No damage.” This was the youngest crew member.   
“Jefferson?”  
“Check!”   
After a few seconds, the Doctor realised that he wasn’t going to check on them.   
“We're fine, thanks, fine. Yeah, don't worry about us.”  
Eris groaned, working the stiffness out of her shoulders. “Speak for yourself.” 

The captain ignored them completely as he looked over a schematic report of the base’s structures.   
“The surface caved in. I deflected it onto storage five through eight. We've lost them completely. Toby, go and check the rocket link.”   
Toby pulled a face. “That's not my department.”  
“Just do as I say, yeah?”  
As he left, Ida checked the system.   
“Oxygen holding. Internal gravity fifty six point six. We should be okay.”   
Finally feeling safe enough to let go of the railing, Rose gestured up at the ceiling.   
“Never mind the earthquake, that's, that's one hell of a storm. What is that, a hurricane?”  
Scooti shrugged.   
“You'd need an atmosphere for a hurricane. There's no air out there. It's a complete vacuum.”  
“Then what's shaking the roof?”   
There was a moment of silence, in which Scooti and Ida exchanged bemused looks.   
“You're not joking. You really don't know. Well introductions. FYI, as they said in the olden days. I'm Ida Scott, science officer. Zachary Cross Flane, acting Captain.” The captain nodded at the trio. “You've met Mister Jefferson, he's Head of Security. Danny Bartock, Ethics committee.”   
Danny interrupted. “Not as boring as it sounds.”  
“That man who just left, that was Toby Zed, Archaeology. And this is Scooti Manista, Trainee maintenance.” Walking over to the nearest wall, Ida wrapped her hand around a lever. “And this? This is home.”  
As she pulled the lever, Zach raised an eyebrow at the three newcomers.   
“Brace yourselves. The sight of it sends some people mad.” 

Overhead, the shutters pulled back to reveal a vast expanse of space above them. In the centre of the view was an impossibly black disc, surrounded by fiery tendrils of hot white light. In the space surrounding it, clouds of coloured gas travelled slowly towards the darkness. There was only one thing it could possibly be.   
“That's a black hole.” Eris murmured, not blinking as she gazed at the vision above.   
The Doctor gaped. “But that's impossible.”  
Zach shrugged. “I did warn you.”  
“We're standing under a black hole.”  
“In orbit.” Ida added.   
“But we can't be”  
“You can see for yourself. We're in orbit.”  
“But we can't be!”  
“This lump of rock is suspended in perpetual geostationary orbit around that black hole without falling in. Discuss.”  
Rose pulled a face. “And that's bad, yeah?”   
The Doctor looked deadly serious.   
“Bad doesn't cover it. A black hole's a dead star. It collapses in on itself, in and in and in until the matter's so dense and tight it starts to pull everything else in too. Nothing in the universe can escape it. Light, gravity, time. Everything just gets pulled inside and crushed.”   
“So, they can't be in orbit. We should be pulled right in.”  
“We should be dead.”  
Ida smirked. “And yet here we are, beyond the laws of physics. Welcome on board.”   
Rose still didn’t quite get it.   
“But if there's no atmosphere out there, what's that?”   
“Stars breaking up. Gas clouds. We have whole solar systems being ripped apart above our heads, before falling into that thing.”  
“So, a bit worse than a storm, then.”  
“Just a bit.”  
“Just a bit, yeah.”   
Another slight shake ran through the ground beneath them. 

“The rocket link's fine.” Toby re-entered the main room, only to be ignored by the rest of the crew that were present. Captain Zach was showing their new arrivals exactly where they were.   
“That's the black hole, officially designated K Three Seven Gen Five.”  
Ida picked up the narrative.   
“In the scriptures of the Falltino, this planet is called Kroptor, the bitter pill. And the black hole is supposed to be a mighty demon. It was tricked into devouring the planet, only to spit it out, because it was poison.”   
Rose chuckled. “The bitter pill. I like that.”   
The Doctor was looking at the coordinates.   
“We are so far out. Lost in the drifts of the universe. How did you even get here?!”   
Zach smiled, pulling up a holographic display of the planet and a sort of funnel wavelength.   
“We flew in. You see, this planet's generating a gravity field. We don't know how. We've no idea. But it's kept in constant balance against the black hole. And the field extends out there as a funnel. A distinct gravity funnel, reaching out into clear space. That was our way in.”   
A grin crept onto Rose’s face. “You flew down that thing? Like a rollercoaster.”  
“By rights, the ship should have been torn apart. We lost the Captain, which is what put me in charge.”   
Seeing the uncomfortable look on his face, Ida patted his shoulder reassuringly.   
“You're doing a good job.”  
“Yeah, well, needs must.”  
Danny snorted. “But if that gravity funnel closes, there's no way out.”  
Next to him, Scooti grinned. “We had fun speculating about that.”  
“Oh, yeah. That's the word. Fun.” He rolled his eyes, and bopped her over the head with a rolled up plan.   
The Doctor was still baffled.  
“But that field would take phenomenal amounts of power. I mean not just big, but off the scale! Can I?”   
Ida slid a small calculator across the table at him.   
“Sure. Help yourself.” 

One of the aliens passed Rose and Eris a plastic cup for each of them.   
“Your refreshment.”   
“Oh, yeah. Thanks. Thank you. I'm sorry, what was your name?” Rose smiled.   
“We have no titles. We are as one.”   
As it walked away, Eris got Danny’s attention.   
“Sorry, what are they called?”   
He looked at her oddly. “Oh, come on. Where have you been living? Everyone's got one.”  
“Well, not me, so, what are they?”   
“They're the Ood.”  
Rose let the new word cling to her lips. “The Ood?”  
“The Ood.”  
“Well that's... ood.”   
He laughed. “Very ood, but handy. They work the mine shafts. All the drilling and stuff. Supervision and maintenance. They're born for it. Basic slave race.”  
Rose’s expression dropped. “You've got slaves?”   
Scooti joined the conversation, pulling a face.   
“Don't start. She's like one of that lot. Friends of the Ood.”  
“Well maybe I am, yeah. Since when do humans need slaves?”  
“But the Ood offer themselves. If you don't give them orders, they just pine away and die.”   
As they walked off, Rose turned to the nearest Ood.   
“Seriously, you like being ordered about?”   
The Ood’s tone never changed. “It is all we crave.”  
“Why's that, then?”  
“We have nothing else in life.”  
“Yeah, well, I used to think like that, a long time ago.” 

The Doctor slammed the calculator down on the desk in front of him with a loud bang.   
“There we go! Do you see? To generate that gravity field, and the funnel, you'd need a power source with an inverted self extrapolating reflex of six to the power of six every six seconds.”   
Eris peered over his shoulder, scanning over the calculations he’d made on a scrap of paper.   
“Looks about right.”   
“That's a lot of sixes.” Rose nudged Eris in the ribs.   
“And it's impossible.” The Doctor agreed.   
Zach stared at the Doctor, amazed. “It took us two years to work that out!”  
“I'm very good.”  
“But that's why we're here,” Ida explained “this power source is ten miles below us, through solid rock. Point Zero. We're drilling down to try and find it.”   
“It's giving off readings of over ninety stats on the Blazon scale.” Zach made the statement like it was meant to be something impressive, but it meant absolutely nothing to the newcomers.   
“It could revolutionise modern science.”   
From a corner, Jefferson added, “We could use it to fuel the Empire.”  
The Doctor’s tone was dark. “Or start a war.”   
Sat at one of the tables, Toby murmured just loud enough to be heard.   
“It's buried beneath us, in the darkness, waiting.”   
Rose pulled a face at him. “What's your job, chief dramatist?”  
“Well, whatever it is down there is not a natural phenomena. And this, er, planet once supported life, eons ago, before the human race had even learned to walk.”   
The Doctor got involved. “I saw that lettering written on the wall. Did you do that?”  
“I copied it from fragments we found unearthed by the drilling, but I can't translate it.”  
“No, neither can I. And that's saying something.”  
“There was some form of civilisation. They buried something. Now it's reaching out, calling us in.”

Gazing at all of the crew members, the Doctor’s face split into a grin.   
“And you came.”  
Ida smiled back. “Well, how could we not?”  
“So, when it comes right down to it, why did you come here? Why did you do that? Why? I'll tell you why. Because it was there. Brilliant. Excuse me, er, Zach, wasn't it?”  
“That's me.”  
“Just stand there, because I'm going to hug you. Is that all right?”  
“I suppose so.”  
“Here we go. Come on, then.”   
Eris choked back a laugh as her dad squeezed the Captain tightly.   
“Oh, human beings. You are amazing! Ha! Thank you.”  
Zach looked a little awkward. “Not at all.”  
“But apart from that, you're completely mad. You should pack your bags, get back in that ship and fly for your lives.”  
Ida rolled her eyes. “You can talk. And how the hell did you get here?”  
“Oh, I've got this er, this ship. It's hard to explain. It just sort of appears.”  
Rose piped up. “We can show you, we parked down the corridor from er... Oh, what's it called? Habitation area-”  
“Three.”  
“Three. Three.”   
Slowly, Zach raised his head to make eye contact with the Doctor.   
“Do you mean storage six?”   
Realising what he was talking about, Eris blanched and sprinted from the room, ignoring Rose’s questioning. The Doctor still seemed oblivious.   
“It was a bit of a cupboard, yeah. Storage six. But you said... You said....” And it hit him. “You said storage five to eight.”   
He followed Eris’ path, catching up with her quickly. 

Rose struggled to catch up with them, breathless. “What is it? What's wrong?”   
They didn’t answer, and the computer logging the doors opening and closing provided the only background noise other than their feet on the metal floor.   
“Open door 19. Close door 19.”  
They stopped at one door in particular, Eris using her entire body weight against the wheel lock as the Doctor punched at the accompanying keypad.   
“Door 16 out of commission.”  
He snarled. “It can't be. It can't be!”  
“What's wrong? What is it? Doctor, the Tardis is in there. What's happened?” Rose grabbed his shoulders, trying to make eye contact.   
“The Tardis is gone.”  
“Door 16 out of commission.”  
His voice was toneless now, lost. “The earthquake. This section collapsed.”  
“But it's got to be out there somewhere.”   
Eris pulled back from the porthole in the bulkhead door, eyes shining.   
“Look down.”  
And she did - but there was nothing to see. Beneath them was a sheer drop into pure darkness. The Tardis was gone. 

A much more grave Doctor returned to the console room, and immediately sprung a proposition at Zach.   
“The ground gave way. My Tardis must've fallen down right into the heart of the planet. But you've got robot drills heading the same way.”  
He shook his head. “We can't divert the drilling.”  
“But I need my ship. It's all I've got. Literally the only thing.”  
“Doctor, we've only got the resources to drill one central shaft down to the power source, and that's it. No diversions, no distractions, no exceptions. Your machine is lost. All I can do is offer you a lift if we ever get to leave this place, and that is the end of it.”   
Ida laid a consoling hand on his arm.   
“I'll er, put you on the duty roster. We need someone in the laundry.”   
And then the others left the three of them alone there, with the Ood, to think.   
“Open door 1. Close door 1.”   
He was quiet for a moment.   
“I've trapped you both here.”  
Rose shook her head. “No, don't worry about me.”   
Eris laced her fingers with his, holding tight. “Stuck with you isn’t so bad. I know I can think of worse things.”   
The shakes got worse again, and Rose laughed nervously.   
“Okay, we're on a planet that shouldn't exist, under a black hole and no way out. Yeah, I've changed my mind. Start worrying about me.”   
The Doctor wrapped his free arm around her, holding both his girls as tightly to him as possible. He couldn’t risk losing them too. 

Overhead, the computer made another announcement.   
“Entering night shift. Your chosen track for transition is Ravel's Bolero.”   
The familiar sweet opening notes of Ravel’s most famous work filled the air as the ship and it’s crew started the switch into night mode.   
Scooti led their guests to the canteen area, the Doctor and Eris bringing up the rear as they examined a couple of the fragments that Toby had lent them.   
In the background, they were vaguely aware of Zach making a call to Danny on the open channel as they sat down at one of the tables.   
“Danny, check the temperature in Ood Habitation. It seems to be rising.”   
A little peckish, Rose stood up again.   
“I’m going to give the food a go. Eris, you up for trying some?”   
She shook her head. “Nah, I’ll pass. Space base food doesn’t usually agree with me.”   
Scooti brushed past her as she made her way to the food windows, and passed her a tray.   
“Help yourself. Just don't have the green. Or the blue.”  
Slightly unnerved by the Ood behind the window, Rose slid her tray into the slot and pointed down at a lumpy looking blue substance.   
“Er, bit of that, thanks.”   
The Ood served her a scoop, before asking, “Would you like sauce with that?”  
“I'll have a go, yeah. I did that job once. I was a… a dinner lady. Not that I'm calling you a lady. Although, I don't know, you might be. Do you actually get paid, though? Do they give you money?”   
The answer to her question was very different from the one she’d been expecting.   
“The Beast and his Armies shall rise from the Pit to make war against God.”   
“I'm sorry?”   
The Ood tapped a hand against it’s vocal globe, shook it for a moment, and then tried again. It’s voice had never changed from the usual monotonous flatness.   
“Apologies. I said, I hope you enjoy your meal.”   
Slightly shaken up, Rose managed a smile.  
“Yeah.” 

As she sat down, the lights flickered briefly. Frowning, Ida went to the comms unit next to the door. “Zach? Have we got a problem?”  
His voice crackled back. “No more than usual. Got the Scarlet System burning up. Might be worth a look.”  
“You might want to see this. Moment in history.”   
She opened the roof shutters to reveal a pinkish red streamer of light being drawn into the black hole.   
“There. On the edge. That red cloud. That used to be the Scarlet System. Home to the Peluchi, a mighty civilisation spanning a billion years, disappearing forever. Their planets and suns consumed.” She stood silent for a moment, as everyone in the room watched the spectacle above. “Ladies and gentlemen, we have witnessed its passing.” As she moved to close the shutters again, the Doctor called over to her.   
“Er, no, could you leave it open? Just for a bit. I won't go mad, I promise.”  
“How would you know?”   
Eris looked up from the clay piece in her hands, an eyebrow raised.   
“I’m pretty sure he’s been mad for a long time, Ida.”   
Conceding, Ida turned her attention to the other members of staff around her.   
“Scooti, check the lockdown. Jefferson, sign off the airlock seals for me.”   
Rose leant across the table, shoving aside the tray of pungent blue stuff.   
“I've seen films and things, yeah. They say black holes are like gateways to another universe.”   
The Doctor shook his head. “Not that one. It just eats.”  
“Long way from home.”  
“Go that way, turn right, keep going for er, about, er, five hundred years, and you'll reach the Earth.”   
She huffed a laugh, and reached into her pocket to dig out her phone.   
“No signal. That's the first time we've gone out of range. Mind you, even if I could. What would I tell her?” There was a long pause. “Can you build another Tardis?”  
The look on the Doctor’s face was melancholy, mixed with grief and a touch of nostalgia.  
“They were grown, not built. And with my own planet gone, we're kind of stuck.”   
Eris squeezed the Doctor’s forearm comfortingly. She knew it was difficult for him to talk about Gallifrey, and losing the last thing he had of home was hardly going to make it any easier.   
Oblivious to the silent interaction between her friends, Rose carried on.  
“Well, it could be worse. This lot said they'd give us a lift.”  
“And then what?”  
“I don't know. We find a planet, get a job, live a life, same as the rest of the universe.”   
A look of horror passed across his face.   
“I'd have to settle down. Get a house or something. A proper house with, with doors and things. Carpets. Me, living in a house! Now that, that is terrifying.”   
Eris giggled, and Rose broke into a singsong voice.   
“You'd have to get a mortgage.”  
“No.”  
“Oh, yes.”   
He fell forward and smacked his head against the table.  
“I'm dying. That's it. I'm dying. It is all over.”  
“What about me? I'd have to get one, too. I don't know, could be the same one. We could both, I don't know, share. Or not, you know.”   
An awkward silence fell for a moment, and Eris looked between the two of them curiously. Could it be…? She doubted something had been going on between the two of them - there’s no way she wouldn’t have noticed that - but it was perfectly plausibly that Rose had started to fall for the Doctor.   
Rose hastened to fill the quiet.   
“Whatever. I don't know. We'll sort something out.”  
“Anyway.”  
“We'll see.”   
This time, the silence was a little more comfortable. Eris poked about at the fragments again, looking for patterns. She couldn’t translate it; that was definitely beyond her abilities. But the least she could try was to look for patterns in the letters. A downstroke here, an odd Z-shaped squiggle there. Finding a pattern would be a good start, and might even make the translation easier for her dad.   
He still seemed rather morose.   
“I promised Jackie I'd always take you back home.”   
Rose brushed it off. “Everyone leaves home in the end.”   
“Not to end up stuck here.”  
“Yeah, but stuck with you two, that's not so bad.”   
A slight smile caught his mouth. “Yeah?”  
“Yes.”  
Her phone rang, buzzing against the table as it did so. That was odd. It hadn’t had any signal a moment ago. Nevertheless, she answered the call anyway. The voice on the other end of the phone sent chills through her whole body, and a terrible fear carved a pit into her stomach.  
“He is awake.” 

After explaining what she’d heard on the phone, and what the Ood behind the counter had said to her, Rose followed the others down to Ood Habitation for a little bit of investigating.   
“Evening.” The Doctor grinned. “Only us.”   
Danny glanced up from his work at them.   
“The mysterious trio. How are you, then? Settling in?”   
“Yeah. Sorry, straight to business, the Ood how do they communicate? I mean, with each other.”  
“Oh, just empaths. There's a low level telepathic field connecting them. Not that that does them much good. They're basically a herd race. Like cattle.”  
Below the catwalk, the Ood were sitting calmly on long benches, staring straight ahead.   
Eris thought for a moment. “This telepathic field. Can it pick up messages?”  
Rose jumped in. “Because I was having dinner, and one of the Ood said something, well, odd.”  
“Hmm. An odd Ood.” Danny smirked.   
“And then I got something else on my er, communicator thing.”  
“Oh, be fair. We've got whole star systems burning up around us. There's all sorts of stray transmissions. Probably nothing. Look, if there was something wrong, it would show. We monitor the telepathic field. It's the only way to look after them. They're so stupid, they don't even tell us when they're ill.”   
The Doctor focused on one of the screens, showing a wavelength and a number.  
“Monitor the field. That's this thing?”  
“Yeah. But like I said, it's low level telepathy. They only register basic five.”   
Unbeknownst to him, the number was steadily climbing.   
“Well, that's not basic five. Ten, twenty. They've gone up to basic thirty.”  
“But they can't.”   
Noticing a movement, Rose leant over the railing to look down at the Ood, who were now standing.   
“Doctor, the Ood. What does basic thirty mean?”  
Danny answered for him. “Well, it means that they're shouting, screaming inside their heads.”  
“Or something's shouting at them.” The Doctor sounded thoughtful.   
“But where is it coming from? What is it saying? What did it say to you?”  
Rose shrugged. “Something about the beast in the pit.”  
“What about your communicator? What did that say?”  
“He is awake.”  
“And you will worship him.” The Ood spoke in unison, and the humans in the room whipped around to stare down at them.   
“What the hell?” Danny breathed.   
The Doctor’s tone became sterner. “He is awake.”  
“And you will worship him.”  
“Worship who? Who's talking to you? Who is it?”   
He got no response. 

Without warning, the base shook again, more violently than before.   
“Emergency hull breach. Emergency hull breach.” The computer was stating that which was blatantly obvious as the floor juddered beneath them, almost knocking them off their feet.   
Danny shouted down the comms. “Which section?”  
Zach responded through the open channel.  
“Everyone, evacuate eleven to thirteen. We've got a breach. The base is open. Repeat, the base is open!”   
As they ran through the corridors to avoid the dangerous sections, they met up with Jefferson and the others, knocking into each other as they battled to stay upright.   
“Breach sealed. Breach sealed.”   
Everyone relaxed a little as the shakes subsided, breathing heavily as things returned to normal.   
Looking over the others, the Doctor asked, “Everyone all right?! What happened? What was it?”  
Jefferson coughed a little. “Hull breach. We were open to the elements. Another couple of minutes and we'd have been inspecting that black hole at close quarters.”   
“That wasn't a quake. What caused it?”   
Zach, examining the base plans, called out to the rest of the crew.   
“We've lost sections eleven to thirteen. Everyone all right?” 

Performing a quick head count, Jefferson responded.   
“We've got everyone here except Scooti. Scooti, report. Scooti Manista? That's an order. Report.”   
Everyone held their breath for a moment as all he got back was a static crackle. Then came Zach’s voice again.   
“She's all right. I've picked up her biochip. She's in Habitation three. Better go and check if she's not responding. She might be unconscious. How about that, eh? We survived.”   
Laughing with relief, the other crew members brushed themselves off and patted each other on the back, gently stretching their strained muscles.   
Jefferson rubbed at his shoulder, which was already beginning to bruise.   
“Habitation three. Come on. I don't often say this, but I think we could all do with a drink. Come on.”   
As the others moved on, the Doctor and Rose noticed that Toby was still sat on the floor.   
“What happened?”  
The young man’s voice shook and his words seemed to tangle together in his mouth.  
“I don't… I don't know. I was working and then I can't remember. All that noise. The room was falling apart. There was no air…”   
Rose helped him up, tucking an arm around his back.   
“Come on. Up you get. Come and have some protein one.”  
Eris snorted. “Oh, you've gone native.”   
“Oi, don't knock it. It's nice. Protein one with just a dash of three.” 

While Rose and Toby got settled at one of the tables, the other crew members were growing increasingly worried at Scooti’s absence. Ida was checking the other habitation areas, and reporting back to Jefferson as she went.   
“I've checked Habitation Four. Can you hear me?”  
Jefferson sighed, trying to get through to Zach.  
“There's no sign of her. The biochip says she's in the area. Have any of you seen Scooti?”  
The others shook their heads.   
“Scooti, please respond. If you can hear this, please respond. Habitation Six.”  
“Nowhere here. Zach? We've got a problem. Scooti's still missing.”  
In the control room, Zach finally managed to get through to them.   
“It says Habitation three.”  
Jefferson groaned, frustrated. “Yeah, well, that's where I am, and I'm telling you she's not here.”   
Away from the main group, Eris felt a cold finger trail down her spine, and she cringed back a little - only to look upwards as she did so. Her heart stopped. She opened her mouth to speak, but the words froze in her throat. Every attempt she made to talk, it was like an invisible hand clamped itself over her mouth. Going for the second best option, she tiptoed her way over to where the Doctor was standing and gripped his forearm tightly.   
He glanced down at her to ask, but the expression on her grey face was enough to answer his question before it even left his lips. She flicked her eyes up for a fraction of a second, and the Doctor followed her glance. His hearts sank.   
“I've found her.”   
Everyone else looked upwards, and gasps echoed through the hub.   
“Oh, my God.” Rose gulped.   
It was Scooti. She looked so peaceful, drifting in the darkness of space above them, her hair fanning out behind her head in the vacuum.   
“I'm sorry. I'm so sorry.” The Doctor breathed, pulling his daughter close to him.   
As Ida burst into the room, panting, Jefferson spoke into the comms unit on his watch and broadcast his voice to the whole ship.   
“Captain. Report Officer Scootori Manista PKD, deceased. 43 K 2.1.”  
Ida’s voice was little more than a sob.   
“She was twenty. Twenty years old.”  
As she reached out to close the shutters, Jefferson quoted a poem while Scooti vanished from sight.   
“For how should man die better than facing fearful odds? For the ashes of his father and the temples of his Gods.”   
His voice trailed away into nothingness, and the whole base was quiet. Too quiet.   
“It's stopped.” Ida sounded awestruck.   
Rose turned to the Doctor, confused. “What was that? What was it?”  
He sighed. “The drill.”  
Now, Ida’s voice was tinged with hope. “We've stopped drilling. We've made it. Point Zero.” 

Over the tannoy, Zach’s voice ricocheted through the ship as the crew made their way to join him in the drill room.   
“All non essential Oods to be confined.”  
Ida was now in an orange spacesuit, checking the readings of a metal two-man pod.   
“Capsule established. All systems functioning. The mineshaft is a go. Bring systems online now.”   
The Doctor, followed by Eris and Rose, joined her there. He was wearing a matching spacesuit, a helmet tucked under his arm.   
“Reporting as a volunteer for the expeditionary force.”  
Zach came over to them, regarding the Doctor warily.   
“Doctor, this is breaking every single protocol. We don't even know who you are.”  
“Yeah, but you trust me, don't you? And you can't let Ida go down there on her own. Go on. Look me in the eye. Yes you do, I can see it. Trust.”   
“I should be going down.”   
Eris sighed, resting a hand on the man’s shoulder.   
“There’s no use arguing. He’s made up his mind, and nothing’s going to change it.”   
The Doctor agreed.   
“The Captain doesn't lead the mission. He stays here, in charge!”   
Huffing, Zach relented.   
“Not much good at it, am I? Positions! We're going down in two. Everyone, positions! Mister Jefferson! I want maximum system enhancement.”   
As he walked away, the Doctor checked the readout on his sleeve.   
“Oxygen, nitro balance, gravity. It's been ages since I wore one of these.”   
Rose shot him a mock glare, before her expression softened into worry.  
“I want that spacesuit back in one piece, you got that?”  
“Yes, sir.” He raised an eyebrow, and put the helmet on, clicking it securely into place.   
“It's funny, because people back home think that space travel's going to be all whizzing about and teleports and anti gravity, but it's not, is it? It's tough.” Rose’s voice had started to crack a little, and she stopped talking before it went completely.   
The Doctor pulled her into a hug. “I'll see you later.”  
“Not if I see you first.” She managed a laugh, and leant up to press a kiss onto the glass of the helmet.   
He turned to Eris. “Stay out of trouble, yeah?”  
She scoffed, “I should be saying that to you!” and hugged him tightly. “I’ll see you later.” 

Zach had returned to the console room, and finalised the setup.   
“Capsule active. Counting down in ten, nine, eight, seven, six-”  
Once Ida and the Doctor were both safely inside the capsule, Jefferson closed the door behind them.   
“-five, four, three, two, one. Release.”   
And the capsule started to descend.   
Rose and Eris gathered by the screen to watch their progress, the blonde clutching the microphone tightly.   
“You've gone beyond the oxygen field. You're on your own.” Zach sounded proud, and understandably so. He had been working towards this for years.   
“Don't forget to breathe. Breathing's good.” Rose took a deep breath in, and then out, as if doing so would help the others in the capsule to do the same.   
“Rose, stay off the comm.”  
Eris chimed in, “Leave it Zach, she’s not doing any harm.”   
Suddenly, there was a loud crunch, and all mechanical noises stopped.   
“Doctor? Doctor, are you all right?” Rose was a little panicked.   
Zach was also worried by the silence. “Ida, report to me. Doctor?” 

“It's all right. We've made it. Getting out of the capsule now.” The Doctor reassured them, peering into the dark as he left the capsule.   
Eris’ voice trickled into his ears through the speaker in the helmet.  
“What's it like down there?”   
“It's hard to tell. Some sort of cave. Cavern. It's massive.”  
“Well, this should help. Gravity globe.”   
Ida picked up a ball from the bottom of the capsule, and threw it high into the air where it exploded into light.   
“That's - that's... My God, that's beautiful.”   
The walls of the cavern had been carved into, chiseled delicately into pillars and statues. It almost felt like a cathedral; it’s ethereal beauty was almost unbelievable.   
The Doctor sent a message up to the base.   
“Rose, you can tell Toby we've found his civilisation.”  
She grinned, looking over her shoulder at the man.   
“Oi, Toby. Sounds like you've got plenty of work.”  
“Good, good. Good.”   
Nobody noticed the tremor in his voice and the fear in his eyes as he stared at his hands. 

Zach got them all back on track. “Concentrate now, people. Keep on the mission. Ida, what about the power source?”  
“We're close. Energy signature indicates north north west. Are you getting pictures up there?” Ida replied.   
“There's too much interference. We're in your hands.”  
“Well, we've come this far. There's no turning back.”   
The Doctor groaned.  
“Oh, did you have to? No turning back? That's almost as bad as nothing can possibly go wrong… or, this is going to be the best Christmas Walford's ever had.”  
“Are you finished?”  
“Yeah. Finished.” 

In the base, their attention was drawn away from the Doctor and Ida by a message from a worried sounding Danny.   
“Captain, sir. There's something happening with the Ood.”  
“What are they doing?”  
“They're staring at me. I've told them to stop, but they won't.”  
Zach’s eye-roll was practically audible. “Danny, you're a big boy. I think you can take being stared at.”   
“But the telepathic field, sir. It's at basic one hundred. I've checked. there isn't any fault. It's definitely one hundred.”   
“But that's impossible.”   
Rose - who’d been listening in - asked, “What does basic one hundred mean?”   
Eris frowned. “Nothing good, by the sound of it.”   
“They should be dead.” Danny still hadn’t calmed down.   
Jefferson nodded. “Basic one hundred is brain death.”   
“But they're safe. They're not actually moving?” This time, Zach did sound a little concerned.   
Danny confirmed. “No, sir.”  
“Keep watching them. And you, Jefferson? Keep a guard on the Ood.”   
“Officer at arms!”  
The nearest crewman cocked his gun. “Yes, sir.”   
Rose shook her head.   
“You can't fire a gun in here. What if you hit a wall?”  
Jefferson brushed it off. “It’s firing stock fifteen. It only impacts upon organics. Keep watch. Guard them.” 

Hearing some of the chatter going on up above, the Doctor became concerned and called up to the others.   
“Is everything alright up there?”   
Not wanting to worry the pair below, everyone’s voices overlapped as they did their best to hide the incident occurring.  
“Yeah, yeah.”  
“It's fine.”  
“Great.”   
“Nothing to worry about.”   
Deep in the belly of the planet below, the Doctor decided there was nothing to worry about. If there was, surely they would let them know. He and Ida continued, walking under a gargantuan arch into another large open space. This one was different from the last, though. In here, there were piles of rubble scattered over the dusty ground. The central feature of the room, however, was a colossal round metal disc embedded in the floor. He radioed up again.  
“We've found something. It looks like metal. Like some sort of seal. I've got a nasty feeling the word might be trapdoor. Not a good word, trapdoor. Never met a trapdoor I liked.”   
Ida was examining the border of it closely. “The edge is covered with those symbols.”  
“Do you think it opens?” Zach sounded wary.   
The Doctor shrugged. “That's what trapdoors tend to do.”   
“Trapdoor doesn't do it justice. It's massive, Zach. About thirty feet in diameter.”   
“Any way of opening it?”   
“I don't know. I can't see any sort of mechanism.”   
“I suppose that's the writing.” Running a hand over it, the Doctor recognised some of the same symbols as had been written on the wall. “It'll tell us what to do. The letters that defy translation.” 

Zach directed his next question to the team’s resident archaeologist.   
“Toby, did you get anywhere with decoding it?”  
The man didn’t answer, and Rose called to him over her shoulder.   
“Toby, they need to know that lettering. Does it make any sort of sense?”  
“I know what it says.”   
The moment he opened his mouth, alarm bells started ringing in Eris’ mind - something was very, very wrong about Toby Zed.   
Rose didn’t seem to have noticed.   
“Then tell them.”   
Jefferson frowned. “When did you work that out?”  
“It doesn't matter, just tell them.”   
Toby stood up, moving his hands away from his face to reveal skin covered in black markings that matched the symbols he had scrawled on the walls earlier. His voice had deepened, and his eyes were a bright scarlet.   
“These are the words of the Beast. And he has woken. He is the heart that beats in the darkness. He is the blood that will never cease. And now he will rise.”  
Jefferson shoved himself in front of the girls, pulling a gun.   
“Officer, stand down. Stand down.”   
The Doctor could hear the ruckus over the comms.   
“What is it? What's he done? What's happening? Rose, what's going on? Eris, talk to me, what’s happening up there?”   
At the same time, Zach was also trying to get through to them.   
“Jefferson? Report. Report!”  
“Officer, as Commander of Security, I order you to stand down and be confined. Immediately!” Seeing as Jefferson wasn’t going to explain what was going on, Rose grabbed the microphone.  
“He's come out in those symbols all over his face. They're all over him.”   
A malicious smile crossed Toby’s face.   
“Mr Jefferson. Tell me, sir. Did your wife ever forgive you?”   
“I don't know what you mean.” The pause before his response gave away that Jefferson was lying.   
“Let me tell you a secret. She never did.”  
“Officer, you stand down and be confined.”  
“Or what?”  
“Or under the strictures of Condition Red, I am authorised to shoot you.”  
Toby cackled. “But how many can you kill?”   
He tipped his head back and opened his mouth - and the symbols on his face lifted, drifting through the air in clouds of black smoke and settling around the Ood. As Toby dropped to the floor, the Ood around them spoke in synchrony; they were pretty sure that every Ood on the ship was being affected.   
“We are the Legion of the Beast.”  
The comms unit was going crazy, the Doctor’s voice mixing with Zach’s as they both tried to get in touch with the group.   
“Eris? What is it, Eris? I'm going back up.  
“Report. Report! Jefferson, report. Someone, report!”   
“The Legion shall be many, and the Legion shall be few.” The Ood’s voices were echoing off the walls.   
Eris and Jefferson both spoke to the others, shielding Rose from the Ood as best they could.   
“It's the Ood.”  
“Sir, we have contamination in the livestock.”  
“Dad, I don't know what it is. It's like they're possessed with something.”  
“They won't listen to us.”

In Ood Habitation, Danny and a couple of guards were hearing the exact same things as everyone else on the ship.   
“He has woven himself in the fabric of your life since the dawn of time. Some may call him Abaddon. Some may call him Kroptor. Some may call him Satan or Lucifer.”  
He called through to Zach, aware that he probably wouldn’t hear the message.  
“Captain, it's the Ood. They're out of control!”  
“Or the Bringer of Despair, the Deathless Prince, the Bringer of Night.”   
The first Ood walked up the steps to the main catwalk, vocal globe in it’s hand. It threw it straight at the face of the nearest guard, electrocuting him.   
“These are the words that shall set him free.” 

The group in the drilling area had backed up to the door, Rose supporting a very weak Toby as Eris and Jefferson formed a barrier between them and the ood.   
“I shall become manifest. I shall walk in might.”   
“Rose, get the door open!”   
“My Legions shall swarm across the worlds.”

Deep in the planet’s belly, the ground shook violently, and Ida grabbed the Doctor’s arm.   
“The seal! Doctor, it's opening!”

In the control room, Zach stared in disbelief at the geographics display on the console.   
“We're moving! The whole thing's moving. The planet's moving. The gravity field. It's going! We're losing orbit! We're going to fall into the black hole!”

“I am the sin and the temptation and the desire. I am the pain and the loss. I have been imprisoned for eternity. But no more.”   
The Ood approached the group by the door, getting closer and closer with every step, and Rose struggled with the opening mechanism.   
“Door sealed.”  
“Come on!”  
“Door sealed.”

“The Pit is open. And I am free!”   
And the maniacal laughter of something utterly deranged echoed through every facet of the ship.


	10. The Satan Pit

Jefferson and a guard took aim at the area door, tensing as the computer announced,   
“Open door 25.”   
They relaxed a little as Danny burst through, slamming the door behind him.   
“It's me! But they're coming. It's the Ood. They've gone mad.”  
Eris shouted over to him. “How many of them?”  
“All of them! All fifty!”  
“Open door 25.”   
As the door opened, Jefferson shoved Danny out of the way, ignoring the man’s protests.   
“But they're armed! It's the interface device. I don't know how, but they're using it as a weapon.”   
The Ood proceeded into the room, with the leading one flinging it’s globe directly at the forehead of the guard. The moment it made contact, she convulsed, screaming as she dropped to the floor, dead.   
The group ran for it, putting three doors between them and the oncoming horde. Zach’s voice buzzed from the computer’s speakers.   
“Jefferson, what's happening there?”  
“I've got very little ammunition, sir. How about you?”  
There was a slight clatter on the other end as Zach checked what he’d got.   
“ All I've got is a bolt gun. With er, all of one bolt. I could take out a grand total of one Ood. Fat lot of good that is.”  
“Given the emergency, I recommend strategy nine.”  
“Strategy Nine… Agreed. Right, we need to get everyone together. Rose? What about Ida and the Doctor? Any word?”   
Rose shook her head, then remembered he couldn’t see her.   
“I can't get a reply. Just nothing.”   
The controls sparked a little as Eris twisted some loose wires.  
“I’m trying to strengthen the connection, but I haven’t had any luck so far.  
“I keep trying, but it's-”  
A burst of static drowned out the rest of her sentence.   
“No, sorry, I'm fine. Still here.” The Doctor’s voice was the best thing Rose had heard all day.   
Laughing with a mix of relief and anger, she grabbed the microphone.   
“You could've said, you stupid-”

He winced at the feedback in his ears. “Whoa. Careful! Anyway, it's both of us. Me and Ida. Hello. But the seal opened up. It's gone. All we've got left is this chasm.”   
“How deep is it?” Eris asked.   
“Can't tell. It looks like it goes down forever.”   
Rose was a little distant. “The pit is open. That's what the voice said.”   
Zach seemed to be trying to convince himself that everything was going to be fine.  
“But there's nothing. I mean… there's nothing coming out?”   
The Doctor reassured him.   
“No, no. No sign of the Beast.”   
“It said Satan.” Rose sounded like a small child who’d just woken from a nightmare.   
“Come on, Rose. Keep it together.”  
“Is there no such thing? Doctor. Doctor, tell me there's no such thing.”

Zach interrupted. “Ida? I recommend that you withdraw. Immediately.”   
Her response was almost a whine. “But, we've come all this way.”   
The captain clearly didn’t have the patience to deal with an argument.   
“Okay, that was an order. Withdraw. When that thing opened, the whole planet's shifted. One more inch and we fall into the black hole. So this thing stops right now.”   
“But it's not much better up there with the Ood.”  
“I'm initiating Strategy Nine, so I need the two of you back up top immediately, no ar-”  
His voice was cut off as Ida muted the comms.   
She turned to the Doctor. “What do you think?”   
“I think they've given an order.”  
“Yeah, but what do you think?”  
He thought for a second. “It said, I am the temptation.”  
“Well, if there's something in there, why is it still hiding?”  
“Maybe we opened the prison but not the cell.”  
“We should go down. I'd go. What about you?”   
“Oh. Oh, in a second, but then again, that is so human. Where angels fear to tread. Even now, standing on the edge. It's that feeling you get, eh? Right at the back of your head. That impulse. That strange little impulse. That mad little voice saying, go on. Go on. Go on. Go over. Go on. Maybe it's relying on that.”   
He fell quiet for a second, then took his foot off the ring around the hole.   
“For once in my life, Officer Scott, I'm going to say retreat. Oh, now I know I'm getting old. Rose, we're coming back.” 

Hearing this, she grinned, relieved. “Best news I've heard all day.”   
Her joy was short-lived, however, as Jefferson aimed his rifle at Toby.   
“What're you doing?”  
“He's infected. He brought that thing on board. You saw it.”  
“Are you going to start shooting your own people now, Is that what you're going to do? Is it?”   
“If necessary.”   
Eris stepped between Toby and Jefferson, a cold look in her eyes.   
“You’re better than this, Jefferson. Don’t even think about it.”   
Rose joined her. “Besides, you'll have to shoot me if necessary, so what's it going to be? Look at his face. Whatever it was, is gone. It passed into the Ood. You saw it happen. He's clean.”   
Reluctantly, he lowered the gun. “Any sign of trouble, I'll shoot him.”  
“Are you alright?” Rose knelt by Toby’s side.   
He nodded nervously. “Yeah. I don't know.”   
Eris frowned sympathetically down at him. “Can you remember anything?”  
“Just, it was so angry. It was fury and rage and death. It was him. It was the devil.”  
As Rose pulled the terrified man into a fierce hug, Eris turned away, thinking. 

The Doctor and Ida were making their way back to the capsule.   
“What's strategy nine?”   
Ida sounded miserable. “Open the airlocks. We'll be safe inside the lock down. The Ood will get thrown out into the vacuum.”  
“So we're going back to a slaughter?”  
She nodded. “The devil's work.”  
They climbed inside, and secured the door behind them.   
“Okay, we're in. Bring us up.”   
Jefferson prepared them for the rise. “Ascension in three, two, one.”   
Then, the power went out. A deep, cold voice rippled through the dark.   
“This is the darkness. This is my domain.”   
The monitors around them flickered back to life, showing images of the Ood.   
“You little things that live in the light, clinging to your feeble suns which die.”   
Zach stated the obvious. “That's not the Ood. Something's talking through them.”  
“Only the darkness remains.”  
“This is Captain Zachary Cross Flane of Sanctuary Base Six, representing the Torchwood archive. You will identify yourself.”  
“You know my name.”   
“What do you want?”  
“You will die here. All of you. This planet is your grave.”   
Aside from the group, Toby rocked back and forth on his heels, terrified.   
“It's him. It's him. It's him.” 

Down below, the Doctor decided to take over the conversation.   
“If you are the Beast, then answer me this. Which one, hmm? Cos the universe has been busy since you've been gone. There's more religions than there are planets in the sky. The Archiphets, Orkology, Christianity, Pash Pash, New Judaism, San Klah, Church of the Tin Vagabond. Which devil are you?”   
“All of them.”  
“What, then you're the truth behind the myth?”   
“This one knows me as I know him. The killer of his own kind.”   
He heard Eris sneering over the speakers. “How did you end up on this rock?”  
“The Disciples of the Light rose up against me and chained me in the pit for all eternity.”   
“When was this?”  
“Before time.”  
The Doctor pulled a face. “What does that mean?”   
“Before time.”   
“What does before time mean?”   
“Before light and time and space and matter. Before the cataclysm. Before this universe was created.”  
He scoffed. “That's impossible. No life could have existed back then.”  
The voice sounded smug. “Is that your religion?”  
“It's a belief.”  
“You know nothing. All of you, so small.” Then, it started to pick on each of them individually.  
“The Captain, so scared of command. The soldier, haunted by the eyes of his wife. The scientist, still running from Daddy. The little boy who lied. The virgin. The abomination, created from chaos. And the lost girl, so far away from home. That valiant child who will die in battle so very soon.” 

Rose was shaking. “Doctor, what does that mean?”   
“Rose, don't listen.”  
“What does it mean?”  
“You will die and I will live.” Then, the image of the Ood was replaced by that of an enraged horned beast. It showed for a fraction of a second, then vanished into the blackness again.   
Danny’s voice had gone up at least one octave.  
“What the hell was that?”  
Toby was shaking violently. “I had that thing inside my head.”   
“Doctor, what did it mean?” Rose could feel Eris’ arms around her, but didn’t really register it.  
“What do we do? Jefferson?”   
Jefferson went for the microphone. “Captain? What's the situation on strategy nine?”  
Danny looked frantic. “Zach, what do we do?”   
“The planet, the orbit, the black hole. Everything's true.” Toby was rocking again.   
“Captain, report.”   
Zach was angrily pushing at as many buttons as he could hit.  
“We've lost pictures, Mister Jefferson.”   
The voices started to overlap now, and the Doctor couldn’t pick apart who was saying what any more.   
“Stop.”  
They didn’t seem to hear him.   
“Everyone just stop.”  
Again, nothing. He only got them to shut up by sending a wave of feedback through the comms, a loud piercing noise that made them all cover their ears. 

Now they were listening, he spoke quickly.  
“You want voices in the dark, then listen to mine. That thing is playing on very basic fears. Darkness, childhood nightmares, all that stuff.”   
“But that's how the devil works.” Danny wasn’t much calmer.   
Eris couldn’t resist adding her own thoughts. “Or a good psychologist.”  
Ida sounded a little weepy.  
“Yeah, but how did it know about my father?”  
It took the Doctor a moment to figure out what to say, but he managed to settle on the right words. “Okay, but what makes his version of the truth any better than mine, hmm? Cos I'll tell you what I can see. Humans. Brilliant humans. Humans who travel all the way across space, flying in a tiny little rocket. Right into the orbit of a black hole, just for the sake of discovery. That's amazing! Do you hear me? Amazing, all of you. The Captain, his Officer, his elders, his juniors, his friends. All with one advantage. The Beast is alone. We are not. If we can use that to fight against him-”   
Bang! The cable snapped, and started to fall. It whistled as it whipped down the shaft.   
Everyone in the drilling room could hear a brief commotion of voices over the comms before a loud crash. Then, silence. 

Rose went for the comms. “Doctor, we lost the cable! Doctor, are you all right? Doctor!”   
Zach groaned. “Signal’s been blocked.”   
“Doctor? Doctor, can you hear me?”   
“I've still got life signs, but we've lost the capsule.”   
“Say something. Are you there?”  
“There's no way out. They're stuck down there.”

Unfortunately, the capsule was unsalvageable. Little more now than a pile of scrap metal and cable. The Doctor sighed, and turned to Ida.   
“You ok?”   
“Yeah.”   
“How much air have we got?”   
She glanced down at her arm panel.   
“Sixty minutes.” Then, a recheck. “Fifty five.”

Rose was stuck focusing on the Doctor, ignoring the calamity around her.  
“But we've got to bring them back.”   
Jefferson was a little short with her.   
“They're ten miles down. We haven't got another ten miles of cable.” Sudden bangs at the closest door interrupted him. “Captain? Situation report.”   
In the control room, Zach checked door one.   
“It's the Ood. They're cutting through the door bolts. They're breaking in.”   
“Yeah, it's the same on door 25.”   
Eris leant over his shoulder.   
“How long's it going to take?”  
“Well, it's only a basic frame, it should take ten minutes.”   
There was a sharp crack as another bolt cracked.   
“Eight.”   
Zach checked the system again. “I've got a security frame. It might last a bit longer, but that doesn't help you.”   
Finally, Rose got her head back in the game.  
“Right. So we need to stop them, or get out, or both.”   
Danny raised an eyebrow. “I'll take both, yeah? But how?”   
“You heard the Doctor. Why do you think that thing cut him off? Cos he was making sense. He was telling you to think your way out of this. Come on! For starters, we need some lights. There's got to be some sort of power somewhere.” 

“There's nothing I can do. Some Captain, stuck in here, pressing buttons.” Zach sounded morose.   
“That's what the Doctor meant. Press the right buttons.”  
“They've gutted the generators.” He thought for a moment. “But the rocket's got an independent supply. If I could reroute that. Mister Jefferson? Open the bypass conduits. Override the safety.”   
“Opening bypass conduits, sir.”  
“Channelling rocket feed in three, two, one. Power.”   
The lights in the drilling area came on, and Rose grinned.   
“There we go.”  
Danny sighed in relief. “Let there be light!”  
“What about that strategy nine thing?”   
There wasn’t such good news on that front, and Jefferson shook his head.   
“Not enough power. It needs a hundred percent.”  
“All right, we need a way out. Zach, Mister Jefferson, you start working on that. Toby, what about you?”   
In the corner, Toby shrugged. “I'm not a soldier. I can't do anything.”   
Eris thought for a moment.   
“No, but you're the archeologist. What do you know about the pit?”  
“Well, nothing. We can't even translate the language.”   
“Come on, at least try!”   
“Hold on. Maybe… since that thing was inside my head, it's like the letters make more sense.”   
“Well, get to work. Anything you can translate, just anything.” Then, she turned to Danny. “You're in charge of the Ood, Dan. Any way of stopping them?”  
He looked surprised at the question. “Well, I don't know.”   
Rose patted him on the back. “Then find out. The sooner we get control of the Base, the sooner we can get the Doctor out. Shift.” 

Ida examined the remains of the capsule.   
“Well, we've got all this cable, we might as well use it. The drum's disconnected. We could adapt it, feed it through.”   
“And then what?” The Doctor frowned at her.   
She seemed very calm. “Abseil into the pit.”  
“Abseil. Right.”   
“We're running out of air with no way back. It's the only thing we can do. Even if it's the last thing we ever achieve.”  
“I'll get back. My girls are up there.”   
“Well, maybe the key to that is finding out what's in the pit.”  
He shrugged. “Well, it's half of a good plan.”  
She blinked at him, confused. “What's the other half?”  
“I go down, not you.” 

Mr Jefferson was doing his best to help Zach readfust the power flow.   
“Open junctions five, six, seven. Reroute filters sixteen to twenty four. Go.”   
At the same time, Danny, Rose and Eris were huddled around one of the computer screens.   
“There's all sorts of viruses that could stop the Ood. Trouble is, we haven't got them on board.”   
Rose rolled her eyes.   
“Well, that's handy, listing all the things we haven't got. We haven't got a swimming pool either. Or a Tesco's.”   
As Eris smirked, the screen lit up with a bold message - Affirmative.   
Danny grinned. “Oh, my God. It says yes. I can do it. Hypothetically, if you flip the monitor, broadcast a flare, it can disrupt the telepathy. Brainstorm!”  
“What happens to the Ood?”  
“It'll tank them, spark out.”  
“There we are, then. Do it!”   
He shook his head, and Eris’ heart sank.   
“What is it?”   
“I'd have to transmit from the central monitor. We need to go to Ood Habitation.”   
She nodded. “That's what we'll do, then. Mr Jefferson, sir. Any way out?”   
He hummed in agreement.   
“Just about. There's a network of maintenance tunnels running underneath the base. We should be able to gain access from here.”   
Rose joined them. “Ventilation shafts.”   
Jefferson laughed. “Yeah, I appreciate the reference, but there's no ventilation. No air, in fact, at all. They were designed for machines, not life forms.”   
Over the speaker, Zach put an idea to them as it sparked to life in his head.   
“But… I can manipulate the oxygen field from here. Create discrete pockets of atmosphere. If I control it manually, I can follow you through the network.”   
Rose understood. “Right, so we go down, and you make the air follow us by hand.”  
They could almost hear Zach shrug.   
“You wanted me pressing buttons.”   
“Yeah, we asked for it. Okay, we need to get to Ood Habitation. Let’s work out a route.” 

At Point Zero, they had managed to mock up an abseiling mechanism using the cable and drum from the capsule. The Doctor had secured the free end of the cable around his waist while Ida watched, nervous.   
“That should hold it. How's it going?” She asked, biting at the inside of her cheeks.   
He stepped onto the rim of the trapdoor. “Fine. Should work. Doesn't feel like such a good idea now. Hmm, there it is again. That itch. Go down, go down, go down, go down, go down.”   
“The urge to jump. Do you know where it comes from, that sensation? Genetic heritage. Ever since we were primates in the trees. It's our body's way of testing us. Calculating whether or not we can reach the next branch.”   
He shook his head. “No, that's not it. That's too kind. It's not the urge to jump. It's deeper than that. It's the urge to fall!”   
And he launched himself back into the chasm, falling fast.   
“Doctor!”   
Ida lunged for the brake, stopping his descent.   
“Are you okay?”   
He sounded extraordinarily calm. “Not bad, thanks. The wall of the pit seems to be the same as the cavern, just not much of it. There's a crust about twenty feet down and then nothing. Just the pit. Okay, then. Lower me down.”  
“Well, here we go then.” 

In the drill room, the Ood were moments away from breaking through the doors. Danny was still struggling with the virus download while the others pulled a piece of the deck plating up.   
“Danny!”  
“Hold on! Just conforming.”   
Jefferson grabbed him. “Dan, we got to go now! Come on!”   
“Got it!”   
He grabbed a neon orange computer chip and ran to the manhole they’d created.   
“Put that in the monitor and it's a bad time to be an Ood.”   
Rose addressed all of them. “We're coming back. Have you got that? We're coming back to this room and we're getting the Doctor out.”   
Eris grinned. “Yes ma’am.”   
Adjusting his grip on his gun, Jefferson aimed at the door.   
“Okay. Danny, you go first, then you, Miss Tyler, then Toby, then Eris. I'll go last in a defensive position. Now, come on, quick as you can!” 

He dropped into the tunnel and slammed the mesh panel back into place above them. In front of him, Rose pulled a face.   
“God, it stinks. You all right?”   
Danny rolled his eyes. “Yeah, I'm laughing.” He aimed his question at Zach through his watch.  
“Which way do we go?”   
“Just go straight ahead. Keep going till I say so.”   
They started to crawl, and Rose decided to lighten the mood.   
“Not your best angle, Danny.”   
“Oi, stop it.”  
Behind her, Toby sniped. “I don't know, it could be worse.”  
“Oi!”   
Eris tutted. “I know who I’d rather be behind. Come on, get moving.”   
A couple of minutes passed before Zach’s next instruction.   
“Straight on until you find junction seven point one. Keep breathing. I'm feeding you air. I've got you.”   
Danny, in the lead, reached the gate first.   
“We're at seven point one, sir.”  
“Okay, I've got you. I'm just aerating the next section.”  
“Getting kind of cramped, sir. Can't you hurry up?”  
Zach sounded irritated.   
“ I'm working on half power, here.”   
At the back of the pack, Jefferson groaned at their whining.   
“Stop complaining.”  
Rose passed the message forward. “Mr Jefferson says stop complaining.”  
“I heard.” Danny muttered.   
“He heard.”   
Toby tugged at his collar. “But the air's getting a bit thin.”  
“He's complaining now.”   
Jefferson huffed. “I heard.”   
Eris smacked a hand against her forehead. “Will you all stop whinging? It’s doing my head in.” 

They could only manage to behave for a moment, it seemed. Rose sniffed deeply.   
“Danny, is that you?”   
“I'm not exactly happy.”   
Zach tried to reassure them.   
“I'm just moving the air. I've got to oxygenate the next section. Now, keep calm or it's going to feel worse.”   
A loud bang made them all jump.   
Danny stiffened. “What was that?”  
Rose and Toby asked the same. “Mr Jefferson, what was that?”  
“What's that noise?”  
Jefferson repeated the sentiment. “Captain, what was that?”   
Zach’s stomach dropped.   
“The junction in Habitation Five's been opened. It must be the Ood. They're in the tunnels!”   
Danny snarled. “Well, open the gate.”  
“I've got to get the air in!”   
“Just open it, sir!”   
Eris took over Jefferson’s wrist unit. “Where are they? Are they close?”   
The answer from Zach wasn’t ideal.  
“I don't know. I can't tell. I can't see them. The computer doesn't register Ood as proper life forms.”   
Rose rolled her eyes. “Whose idea was that?”   
Danny had other things on his mind. “Open the damn gate!”   
It finally slid up, and they all crawled through it, desperate to stay on the move. 

Zach kept feeding them directions. “Danny, turn left. Immediate left.”   
“The Ood, sir. can't you trap them? Cut off the air?” Jefferson kept checking over his shoulder, aware of the sound of crawling a little way behind them.   
“Not without cutting off yours. Danny, turn right. Go right! Go fast, Dan. They're going to catch up.”   
Jefferson settled with his gun.   
“I'll maintain defensive position.”   
Rose tried to stop him. “You can't stop!”  
“Miss Tyler, that's my job. You've got your task, now see to it.”   
Toby rolled his eyes. “You heard what he said, now shift.”   
As Jefferson braced himself, Eris gave him a salute and followed the others. Danny reached the next gate, and the firing started behind them.   
“Eight point two. Open eight point two. Zach! Open eight point two!”  
“I've got to aerate it.”   
“Open it now!” Danny roared.   
“ I'm trying!”   
Danny started to thump at the gate, and Eris reached forwards to grab his hands.   
“Danny, stop it. That's not helping.”   
Toby was getting impatient now too. “Zach, get it open!”  
A decision had to be made now.   
“Jefferson, I've got to open eight point two by closing eight point one. You've got to get past the junction. Now move. That's an order, now move!”   
Further back in the tunnel, out of ammunition, Jefferson had resorted to his pistol. Zach was pleading now. “I'm going to lose oxygen, Jefferson, I can't stop for your dramatics!”   
He retreated and the gate opened.   
“Danny, turn left and head for nine point two. That's the last one. Jefferson, you've got to move faster. John, move!”   
The others, realising that he was about to be trapped, started to call for him.   
“Mr Jefferson!”  
“Jefferson hurry!”   
But it was too late. The gate slammed shut. 

“Regret to inform, sir, I was a bit slow. Not so fast, these days.” They could hear him panting over the open comm link.   
Zach sounded miserable. “I can't open eight point one, John. Not without losing air for the others.”   
“And quite right too, sir. I think I bought them a little time.”  
“There's nothing I can do, John. I'm sorry.”   
“You've done enough, sir. Made a very good captain under the circumstances. May I ask, if you can't add oxygen to this section, can you speed up the process of its removal?”   
Now, he was just confused.   
“I don't understand. What do you mean?”  
“Well, if I might choose the manner of my departure, sir, lack of air seems more natural than, well, let's say death by Ood. I'd appreciate it, sir!”   
At the end of the corridor, the Ood had arrived.   
“God speed, Mister Jefferson.”  
“Thank you, sir.”  
Fingers shaking, Zach pressed the necessary buttons, and there was a hiss of air. He paused a moment.   
“Report Officer John Maynard Jefferson PKD deceased, with honours. 43 K two point one.”   
Now far more subdued, Danny spoke.   
“Zach, we're at the final junction, nine point two. And er, if my respects could be on record. He saved our lives.”   
Eris’ voice wasn’t much stronger than his.   
“I don’t know if it counts for much, but add mine and Rose’s to that record too. He deserves it.”   
Zach sniffed. “Noted. Opening nine point two.” 

The gate rolled up, but their relief was short lived - as an Ood crammed it’s face into the gap that was forming!   
Rose shouted. “Lower nine point two! Hurry, Zach!”   
“Back! Back! Back!” Danny started shuffling backwards.   
Toby groaned. “We can't go back! The gang point's sealed off. We're stuck.”   
Thinking fast, Eris pushed experimentally at the panel above her, grinning when it gave way a little. “We can go up! These panels are looser than the others! Rose, try the panel above you!”   
She did so, shoving at the grating with all her strength and climbing up, encouraging the others to follow.   
“Danny, Eris, Toby! Come on! Up!” 

They burst up into the corridor near door 32, very aware that the Ood were closing in on them. The others had got up, but Toby was still in the tunnel.   
“Come on! Toby, come on!” Rose extended a hand down to help him.   
What the others couldn’t see was that his eyes were red, and he was holding the Ood back with a simple gesture - finger on the lips.   
“Toby, get out of there!”   
His eyes switched back to normal, and he shouted up at them.   
“Help me! Oh, my God. Help me!”  
“Come on!”   
As they pulled him up, they could see the Ood approaching the closed door in front of them.   
Danny pointed in the other direction.   
“ It's this way.”   
And they made it into Ood Habitation.   
Danny’s hands were shaking as he tried to insert the chip into the computer banks as the voices of the others overlapped in his head.   
“Get it in!”   
“Danny, get it done!”   
“Transmit!”   
“I'm trying, I'm trying! I'm getting at it.”   
As the Ood broke through the door behind them, Eris took both of his hands and steadied them.   
“I’ve got you. Breathe.”   
He managed to push it into the slot and the reading dropped instantly - basic 100 right down to zero. The Ood writhed in pain, clutching at their heads before dropping to the floor, motionless.   
Rose cheered. “You did it! We did it!”   
“Yes!”   
She grabbed the microphone.   
“Zach, we did it. The Ood are down. Now we've got to get the Doctor.”   
He replied. “I'm on my way.”

Below, both of them knew that the cable was running out, but neither wanted to speak it out loud. Instead, the Doctor turned to his usual tactic of lecturing on planetary cultural differences.   
“You get representations of the Horned Beast right across the universe, in the myths and legends of a million worlds. Earth, Draconia, Velconsadine, Daemos. The Kaled god of war. It's the same image, over and over again. Maybe that idea came from somewhere, bleeding through. The thought at the back of every sentient mind.”   
Ida frowned. “Emanating from here?”  
“Could be.”  
“But if this is the original, does that make it real? Does that make it the actual devil, though?”  
“Well, if that's what you want to believe. Maybe that's what the devil is, in the end. An idea.”   
The cable ran out with a sharp thunk, leaving the Doctor dangling in mid-air.   
“That's it. That's all we've got. You getting any sort of readout?”  
He tapped at the arm scanner.   
“Nothing. Could be miles to go, yet. Or could be thirty feet. No way of telling. I could survive thirty feet.”  
“Oh no you don't. I'm pulling you back up.” Ida started reversing the drum, but he stopped it again. “What're you doing?”   
The Doctor sighed. “You bring me back, then we're just going to sit there and run out of air. I've got to go down.”   
“But you can't. Doctor, you can't.”   
“Call it an act of faith.”  
She sounded tearful. “But I don't want to die on my own.”   
“I know.”   
He was quiet as he undid the carabiners, one by one. 

They were having technical issues in the drilling room again, and the comms were having trouble. Rose was doing her best to get through to the team, with little success.   
“Doctor, are you there? Doctor, Ida, can you hear me?”   
She could just about hear Zach, his voice interrupted by bursts of static.   
“The comms. are still down. I can patch them through the central desk and boost the signal. Just give me a minute.” 

Still hanging there, the Doctor realised something.  
“I didn't ask. Have you got any sort of faith?”  
Far above, Ida shrugged.   
“Not really. I was brought up Neo Classic Congregational, because of my mum. She was... My old mum. But no, I never believed.”   
“Neo Classics, have they got a devil?”  
“No, not as such. Just er, the things that men do.”  
He snorted. “Same thing in the end.”  
“What about you?”  
“I believe... I believe I haven't seen everything, I don't know. It's funny, isn't it? The things you make up. The rules. If that thing had said it came from beyond the universe, I'd believe it, but before the universe? Impossible. Doesn't fit my rule. Still, that's why I keep travelling. To be proved wrong. Thank you, Ida.”   
She shouted. “Don't go!”   
One carabiner left.   
“If they get back in touch, if you talk to the girls. Eris, my Eris, I’m so proud of her. And Rose, just tell her... Tell her... Oh, she knows.”   
He released the last one, and dropped. 

A familiar voice crackled over the speaker in her helmet.  
“Doctor, are you there? Doctor, Ida, can you hear me? Are you there, Doctor?”   
They finally got a response back, but it wasn’t what they wanted to hear. Zach - who’d run all the way from the control room - arrived just in time to hear;   
“He's gone.” Ida sounded like she’d been crying.   
Rose became a little hysterical. “What do you mean, he's gone?”  
“He fell into the pit. And I don't know how deep it is. Miles and miles and miles.”  
“But what do you mean, he fell?”  
“I couldn't stop him. He said your name. And Eris, he had a message for you.”   
Eris chewed at her lip, and took the microphone.   
“What did he say?”   
“That he was proud of you.”   
Seeing that she was struggling to hold it together, Jefferson prised the microphone gently from her fingers and put it down, rubbing her arm soothingly. Zach took over the conversation.   
“I'm sorry. Ida? There's no way of reaching you. No cable. No back up. You're ten miles down.  
We can't get there.”   
He could hear her sigh.  
“You should see this place, Zach. It's beautiful. Well, I wanted to discover things, and here I am.”   
“We've got to abandon the base. I'm declaring this mission unsafe. All we can do is make sure no one ever comes here again.”   
“But we'll never find out what it was.”  
“Well, maybe that's best.”   
Her voice cracked. “Yeah.”  
Zach got ready to confirm the fact that they were leaving her there.  
“Officer Scott…”   
“It's all right. Just go. Good luck.”

He closed his eyes for the briefest moment, before sighing.   
“And you. Danny, Toby, close down the feed links. Get the retrotropes online, then get to the rocket and strap yourselves in. We're leaving.”   
Rose took a deep breath.   
“I'm not going.”   
“Rose, there's space for you.”  
“No, I'm going to wait for the Doctor. Just like he waited for me.”   
“I'm sorry, but he's dead.”  
She shook her head, voice shaking. “You don't know him. 'Cause he's not. I'm telling you, he's not. And even if he was, how could I leave him all on his own, all the way down there? No, I'm going to stay.”   
Over the girl’s shoulder, Zach could see Eris motioning to Rose’s neck, miming an injection. He understood.   
“Then I apologise for this. Danny, Toby? Make her secure.”   
The boys each took an arm, holding her still.   
She struggled against them. “No, no. No! No! No! Let me go! Get off me! I'm not leaving! Eris, please! Don’t let them do this!”   
The brunette stood back as Zach produced a syringe from his pocket and injected Rose with the sedative, catching her as she passed out.   
“I have lost too many people. I am not leaving you behind. Let's get her on board.”   
He swung her over his shoulder into a fireman’s lift, and led the way to the rocket.

As they made their way through the corridors, picking their way around the Ood sprawled across the floor, Toby spotted a small movement from one of them.   
“Did that one just move?”  
Danny twitched. “It's the telepathic field. It's reasserting itself.”   
“Move it. Get to the rocket. Move!” Zach picked up the pace. 

Deep underneath the cavern, the Doctor lay still on the floor. He’d finally stopped falling. He stirred for a moment, his head clearing a little. Realising that the glass of his helmet was broken, he gasped for a second, before noticing that the air was fine.  
“I'm breathing. Air cushion to support the fall. You can breath down here, Ida. Can you hear me, Ida?”   
He got nothing back, and groaned. The signal must have dropped out… or been blocked. 

Zach and Eris had managed to get everyone safely to the rocket and had taken the front two seats after strapping Rose in, leaving Toby to sit in the middle and Danny on his other side.   
“Dislocating B clamp. C Clamp. Raising blu-nitro to maximum. Toby, how's the Negapact feed line?”   
“Clear. Ready to go, sir. For God's sakes, get us out of here!”  
As they did their flight prep, Rose started to stir, and Danny groaned.   
“Captain, I think we're going to have a problem passenger.”  
Zach didn’t have time to start an argument with the girl. “Keep an eye on her.”   
“Wait. We're not-” She was groggy, but quickly picking up.   
Eris twisted in her seat, doing her best to reassure her.  
“It's all right, Rose. You're safe.”   
“I'm not going anywhere! Get me out of this thing! Get me out!”   
“And lift off! Whoo!” Zach cheered as the engines thrust them into space, up through the gravity funnel.   
Spotting the bolt gun in a holster, Rose snatched it and aimed it at Zach’s head.   
“Take me back to the planet. Take me back!”  
“Or what?”  
“Or I'll shoot.”  
“Would you, though?” He snapped. “Would you really? Is that what your Doctor would want?”   
Eris tore the gun from Rose’s hand and slammed it down on the ledge next to their seats.  
“You know he wouldn’t. Now take a deep breath, and calm down. Let’s focus on getting out of here.”   
“But-”  
“No, Rose! We’re not safe yet.”   
Rose slumped back in her seat, and Zach shot her a sympathetic look.   
“Sorry, but it's too late anyway. Take a look outside. We can't turn back. This is what the Doctor would have wanted. Isn't that right?” 

Above, the Doctor could hear the rumble of engines as he followed the tunnel along.   
“A rocket.”   
Satisfied that the girls were most likely safe and on board, he kept going. Shining his torch at the walls, he could see delicately simple wall paintings - ancient, and yet as vibrant as the day they’d been done.   
“The history of some big battle. Man against Beast. I don't know if you're getting this, Ida. Hope so. Anyway, they defeated the Beast and imprisoned it.”   
Part of the painting showed two bronze urns on two separate pedestals.   
“Or maybe that's the key.”   
The sound of his voice echoing a little made him look to his right, and he could see the tunnel open out a short way away. As he walked towards it, a pair of pedestals rose out of the gloom. A pair of pedestals with bronze urns on top.   
“Or the gate, or the bars.”   
He rested a hand gently against one of the urns, and it glowed a soft yellow. The other one did the same, and the whole cavern swelled with the same light.   
The ledge he was standing on dropped off sharply a few feet in front of him, and the deep pit that it led to seemed to go down forever. Standing inside it, chained by the arms and horns, was a gargantuan beast. Hundreds of metres tall, with cracking red skin and curling ram-like horns. He could only think of one name to describe it. And he really didn’t want to think about that. 

In the rocket, Toby sat in chuckling to himself. Danny looked at him oddly out of the corner of his eye.   
“What's the joke?”  
“Just, we made it. We escaped. We actually did it.”  
Rose sniffled. “Not all of us.”   
Zach shook his head.   
“We're not out of it yet. We're still the first people in history to fly away from a black hole. Toby, read me the stats.”   
“Gravity funnel holding, sir. Always holding. Stats at fifty three. Funnel stable at sixty six point five. Hull pressure constant. Smooth as we can, sir, all the way back home. Coordinates set for planet Earth.”   
Wiping her eyes, Rose continued trying to apply logic to the situation.   
“It doesn't make sense. We escaped, but there's a thousand ways it could've killed us. It could've ripped out the air or, I don't know, burnt us, or anything. But it let us go. Why? Unless it wanted us to escape?”   
Toby nudged her.   
“Hey, Rose, do us a favour. Shut up.” And she did. “Almost there. We'll be beyond the reach of the black hole in forty, thirty nine…” 

Deep in the pit, the Doctor was speaking his thoughts aloud.   
“I accept that you exist. I don't have to accept what you are, but your physical existence, I'll give you that. I don't understand. I was expected down here. I was given a safe landing and air. You need me for something. What for? Have I got to, I don't know, beg an audience? Or is there a ritual? Some sort of incantation or summons or spell? All these things I don't believe in, are they real? Speak to me! Tell me!”   
The beast in chains simply snarled at him, and he frowned. “You won't talk. Or you can't talk. Oh, hold on, wait a minute, just let me... Oh! No. Yes! No. Think it through. You spoke before. I heard your voice. An intelligent voice. No, more than that. Brilliant. But, looking at you now, all I can see is Beast. The animal. Just the body. You're just the body, the physical form. What's happened to your mind, hmm? Where's it gone? Where's that intelligence?”   
A terrible thought popped into his head. “Oh, no.” 

And then, everything started to slot into place.   
“You were imprisoned, a long time ago. Before the universe, after, sideways, in between, doesn't matter. The prison is perfect. It's absolute, it's eternal. Oh, yes! Open the prison, the gravity field collapses. This planet falls into the black hole! You escape, you die. Brilliant! But that's just the body. The body is trapped, that's all. The devil is an idea. In all those civilisations, just an idea. But an idea is hard to kill. An idea could escape. The mind. The mind of the great Beast. The mind can escape! Oh, but that's it! You didn't give me air, your jailers did. They set this up all those years ago! They need me alive, because if you're escaping, then I've got to stop you. If I destroy your prison, your body is destroyed. Your mind with it!”   
Grinning, he stooped and grabbed a large rock from the floor before raising it high above his head to smash the closest urn. But he lowered it again, realising.   
“But then you're clever enough to use this whole system against me. If I destroy this planet, I destroy the gravity field. The rocket. The rocket loses protection and falls into the black hole. I have to sacrifice Eris and Rose.”   
The Beast laughed deeply, languishing in the man’s torment. 

“So, that's the trap. Or the test, or the final judgment, I don't know. But if I kill you, I kill them. Except that implies in this big grand scheme of Gods and Devils that they are just victims. But I know better. I've seen a lot of this universe. I've seen fake gods and bad gods and demi-gods and would-be gods, all kinds of powers. Things that can’t or won’t be explained. Hell, I travel with one! But out of all that, out of that whole pantheon, if I believe in one thing, just one thing - well, two things - I believe in them.”   
He swung the rock down and smashed the urn on the left, before running to do the same to the one on the right.   
“This is your freedom. Free to die. You're going into that black hole and I'm riding with you!” 

Just when they’d started to feel hopeful, the rocket began to tremble, subtly at first but then more violently. Danny started to panic.   
“What happened? What was that?”   
Toby was staring off into the middle distance, an odd look of anger on his face.   
“What's he doing? What is he doing?”   
Punching at the scanner, Zach swore.   
“We've lost the funnel. Gravity collapse!”   
Rose didn’t like the sound of that. “What does that mean?”  
“We can't escape. We're headed straight for the black hole!”   
“It's the planet. The planet's moving. It's falling.” She looked out of the window, heart breaking as the planet sped towards the centre of the black hole. As she looked back, she got the fright of her life as she set eyes on Toby - whose face was once again covered with the black symbols.  
“I am the rage.”   
Eris twisted in her seat. “It's Toby. Zach, it’s Toby!”   
“And the bile and the ferocity.”  
Rose was pressing herself against the wall, trying to keep her distance as much as possible.  
“Just do something!”  
“I am the Prince and the Fall and the enemy. I am the sin and the fear and the darkness.”   
Danny’s voice became a screech. “It's him! It's him! It's him!”  
Zach shook his head. “Stay where you are. The ship's not stable!” A jet of fire shot from Toby’s mouth. “What is he? What the hell is he?”   
Toby was still shouting.   
“I shall never die. The thought of me is forever. In the bleeding hearts of men, in their vanity and obsession and lust.”   
A thought flashed through Eris’ mind.   
“Rose, the bolt gun!”   
Catching on, Rose picked it up and aimed it at the front window.   
“Nothing shall ever destroy me. Nothing!”   
She scoffed.   
“Oh yeah? Go to hell.”   
And she fired at the screen, shattering it. Then, she reached over to undo Toby’s seatbelt and he was instantly sucked out through the hole, roaring furiously.   
“Emergency shield!” Zach flicked the nearest switch and a metal shutter scrolled down, sealing the gap. The ship was still falling. “We've still lost the gravity funnel. We can't escape the black hole.”   
Rose shook her head.   
“But we stopped him. That's what the Doctor would've done.”  
“Some victory. We're going in.”   
In view of the side window, the planet vanished completely, and Danny groaned.   
“The planet's gone. I'm sorry.”   
Zach sighed, resigned.   
“Accelerate. I did my best. But hey! The first human beings to fall inside a black hole. How about that? History.”   
Eris reached over to lay a hand on his shoulder.   
“We did all we could. Thanks for the ride.”   
Moment’s later, the shaking stopped entirely. They sat for a moment, utterly bewildered. What had happened? They were simply drifting now, but how had they stopped?   
Rose craned her neck to see out of the window. “What happened?”   
Then, the ship pitched to the right, leaning dramatically.   
Zach checked the sensors, and gasped.   
“We're turning. We're turning around. We're turning away!” 

Impossibly, the Doctor’s voice took over the speakers. He sounded utterly jubilant.   
“Sorry about the hijack, Captain. This is the good ship Tardis. Now, first thing's first. Have you got a Rose Tyler on board? Maybe an Eris, as well?”   
Rose burst out laughing, happy tears pooling in her eyes.  
“I'm here! It's me! Oh, my God. Where are you?”  
“I'm just towing you home. Gravity schmavity. My people practically invented black holes.”   
Eris reached a hand over her shoulder, squeezing Rose’s fingers as she called up.  
“Oh here he goes, Mr Time Lord showing off again.”   
“Well, in fact, they did. In a couple of minutes, we'll be nice and safe. Oh, and Captain?  
Can we do a swap? Say, if you give me Eris and Rose, I'll give you Ida Scott? How about that? I know it’s a two for one trade so it’s not exactly even, but somehow I don’t think you’ll mind too much.”   
Zach’s face broke into a wide smile. “She's alive!”  
“Yes. Thank God.” Danny closed his eyes, overwhelmed with emotion.   
They could hear the Doctor messing with the controls as he spoke to them.   
“Yeah! Bit of oxygen starvation, but she should be all right. I couldn't save the Ood. I only had time for one trip. They went down with the planet.” He sounded mournful for a moment, before the Tardis pinged in the background.   
“Ah! Entering clear space. End of the line. Mission closed.” 

They could hear the Tardis engines in the storage bay behind the flight deck, and after a quick goodbye to the boys, Eris and Rose ran through to get back to their ship. Eris helped Danny take a dazed Ida back to the flight deck and got her strapped in, before leaving them to it. She could hear their conversation, and suppressed a laugh.   
“I don't know. I can't remember.”   
Danny sounded confused. “Well, it looked like a box.”  
Zach was the only person who hadn’t seen the ship. “What do you mean, a box?”  
“Well, down in the hold. A big blue box. It just appeared. I don't know.”  
The Doctor switched on the comms again as Eris slipped through the doors.   
“Zach? We'll be off, now. Have a good trip home. And the next time you get curious about something… Oh, what's the point? You'll just go blundering in. The human race.”   
Ida managed to croak out,   
“But Doctor, what did you find down there? That creature, what was it?”   
“I don't know. Never did decipher that writing. But that's good! Day I know everything? Might as well stop.”   
Rose frowned up at him. “What do you think it was, really?”  
“I think we beat it. That's good enough for me.”  
“It said I was going to die in battle.”   
“Then it lied.” Eris said firmly, putting an arm around her.   
The Doctor said his goodbyes.   
“Right, onwards, upwards. Ida? See you again, maybe.”   
“I hope so. Hang on though, Doctor. You never really said. You three, who are you?”  
He laughed, “Oh, the stuff of legend.” and switched off the link. 

Once the dematerialisation was started, the Doctor turned to face the girls. He looked exhausted.   
“Are you both okay?”   
“Yeah, we’re fine. Nothing a cuppa won’t cure.” Rose tried to joke, but his face was still stony.   
Eris sighed, and pulled him in by his jacket, initiating a strong three-way hug.   
“Are you alright?”   
He nodded into his daughter’s shoulder, relaxing slightly now he had them both back by his side.   
“Come on, you two. Kitchen?”   
“Kitchen.”   
“I’ll go ahead, put the kettle on.” Rose sensed that her friends wanted to talk alone, and left them to it.   
Eris reached up and fixed his hair, smiling softly.   
“You’ve got helmet hair! It’s even more of a mess than usual.”   
“Oi!” He sounded affronted, but the twitch at the corner of his lips was enough to signal that the humour was working.   
“Are you sure you’re okay?”   
He kissed the top of her head.  
“Yeah, I’m always okay.”   
She raised an eyebrow at him, and he relented. “Fine, I will be okay. Happy?”   
“Yep, happy.”   
Laughing at each other, they headed for the kitchen - hoping to put the memories to the back of their minds, at least for now.


	11. Love and Monsters

To Rose, it seemed like every time she ended up in Eris’ bedroom, there was something completely new to surprise her. This time, it was a hologram projector attached to her ceiling light that created floating images of galaxies in the air around them. She couldn’t help but stare, and Eris laughed.   
“I can get you set up with one too, if you like. It’s easy enough.”   
“It’s just beautiful!”   
Sat at her desk under the lights, Eris looked more alien than she ever had done before. The soft pinks and oranges of the nebulae glanced off her cheekbones, almost giving the impression that the glow came from within. Her hair - twisted into a bun at the base of her neck - shimmered, the projections catching the natural highlights. Behind her glasses, her hazel eyes glowed softly. The outfit she’d picked reminded Rose of something that a student at a posh university might wear to classes; fitted black and grey checked trousers and a navy blue woolly jumper, paired with plain black shoes. It was a very human combination, but it somehow made her friend look even more ethereal. 

“What are you actually doing over there?” Rose asked, leaning her elbows on her knees where she sat cross legged on the edge of the bed.   
Eris wheeled her chair gracefully towards her, handing over a collection of papers.   
“When I can’t sleep, I draw. And I basically draw whatever pops into my head, no matter what the memory is or when it’s from. So I usually end up with tons of loose drawings that I want to add into my diary, but they’re from all over my past. I need to organise them so I can put them with the right event.”   
Rose thumbed through the drawings, impressed by the quality of each piece. Some were tiny, no bigger than a postage stamp, where others took up a whole page.   
“What’s this one?”   
It was some sort of segmented robot, clearly very tall, standing next to a petite dark haired woman wearing what looked like a flowery blouse and dark trousers.   
“It’s from the time that Dad and I were stuck working with UNIT. He’d only just regenerated and we had to deal with this robot that had gone a bit rogue.”   
Squinting at the woman, Rose grinned. “Is that you in the picture?”   
Eris laughed. “Nah, that’s Sarah Jane!”   
“No way!”  
“Yeah! I’ll have to try and find you some photos of us from back then, she had incredible style. Still does”   
As Rose looked through the rest of the drawings again, Eris got up and pulled her diary from the shelf. The two of them worked together quietly for a few minutes, Rose handing over a sketch and Eris turning to the right page in her diary to add it in, fastening the papers in place with a paperclip. They had sorted out an old fashioned Cyberman, the robot, a giant diamond patterned snake and a circus clown when the Doctor poked his head around the door frame. 

He smiled at the scene before him, his two favourite people in the whole universe sat knee to knee on the bed, poring over the vast range of sketches in shades of black and grey.   
“Hey, I’m not interrupting am I?”   
Looking up, Eris matched his smile. “Nah, not at all. What’s up?”   
He looked a little sheepish. “Well…”   
“What have you done?” The eye roll and long-suffering tone made Rose giggle.   
“I can’t seem to find this book that I’m looking for, and you’re usually good at finding stuff - fancy giving me a hand?”   
Something in the Doctor’s eyes made Eris think that he wasn’t quite being honest, but that he probably had a very good reason for it.   
“Sure.”   
Rose got up too. “Need me to help?”   
The Doctor snorted. “We’re more likely to lose you in there as well! I’m sure we’ll manage.”  
Laughing, Rose agreed that he was probably right, and headed back to her own room to phone her mum. 

Once they were in the library, the Doctor led Eris towards the section that held original copies of books and manuscripts that they had acquired or been gifted over the years. It was a cosy little reading nook between two shelves, set up with a comfy chair against the wall and a soft orange lantern above. They leant opposite each other, watching each other’s expressions in the dim light. Eris broke the silence.  
“So what’s up?”   
“I wanted to make sure you were okay.”   
She frowned. “Of course I’m okay!”   
The Doctor shot a glare at her. “Don’t play around, Eris. I know you’ve had something on your mind for the last week.”  
“Fine.” Her shoulders dropped a little and she wrapped her arms around her stomach. “It called me an abomination.”   
He sighed. “I told you not to believe a word it said.”   
“But what if it was right? It seemed to know everything about the crew members, so why wouldnt it know everything about me too?”   
Opening his arms, the Doctor let Eris meet him in a hug. Her voice was slightly muffled against his shoulder.   
“Everyone else in this damn universe seems to know more about me than I do, and I hate it.”   
“I know, I know. But we must be getting closer to the truth. I promise I‘m doing everything I can to look for answers.”   
She stood up straight, wiping at her eyes hastily before cracking a smile.  
“I think I know the answer already, but you didn’t lose anything in here, did you?”   
He smiled back. “Nope. But-” And he reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out a small book, offering it to her. “I found something.”   
Eris took it, and her eyes shone again; this time with happy tears.   
“My gift from Herbert! Where was it?”   
“It ended up in the ‘H’ box down in storage. No idea why, or how, but I found it by accident yesterday morning. I thought you’d want it back.”   
He watched as she opened the cover and reread the inscription on the first page, tracing the familiar swirls of writing.   
“Thank you.”   
“Do you want to keep it here, with the rest of the originals? Or would you rather have it in your room?”   
She subconsciously drew the book a little closer to her chest.  
“It can go on my shelves. No point in putting my favourite book in the depths of this place, it’s worse than the Labyrinth of Crete in here!”   
Nudging each other as they walked, they headed back towards the console room, concocting ideas for their next journey. 

On a familiarly grey, rainy day in London, Elton Pope trudged his way towards the old library on Macatier Street. He remembered the first time he’d tried to walk there alone, and gone completely the wrong way and got lost. Now he knew the route like the back of his hand. Every Wednesday for nearly three months now, he had gone to that same library and gone down in the same creaky old lift to sit with the same people. His mind wandered, casting back to the first few meetings they’d had. 

Mr Skinner - a middle aged man who, upon first meeting, you would assume was a head teacher in a posh school - directing them through a rather complicated looking mind map of evidence.   
“To me, the Doctor isn’t a man, he’s more a collection of archetypes.”   
Every bubble seemed to branch off into at least ten lines, most of which linked three or four pieces of information. Some of the lines were so curled and convoluted that they didn’t seem to have a beginning or an end.   
Then the next week it had been Bridget’s turn. Her method of presentation was a neatly composed slideshow complete with detailed pictures and clear labelling.   
“All these different Doctors come and go, but the single constant factor is this faux police box. It keeps cropping up throughout history.”   
She was a lovely woman from the north, one who travelled down for the meetings every week without fail. According to the others, she’d never missed a single one.   
The week after was Bliss, the youngest of the group and the most creative by far. Her chosen method of explanation was through sculpture; she always said that art was far more eloquent than words.   
“What I'm trying to do is sum up the Doctor. What he means to us. What he could represent and what he should represent, and what he never won't represent, sort of thing.”   
He already knew Ursula’s sources - that was how he’d found the group in the first place. The photo on her blog had started everything. 

Snapping out of his memories, Elton shut the metal pull-doors to the lift and pressed the down button, feeling a smile grow on his face for the eleven and a half seconds (exactly) that it took to reach the basement. The others were already there, chairs set up in a tight circle in the very centre. Clearly, they had been discussing something very important.   
“We should have a name. You know, as a group.” Ursula pushed her glasses up her nose.   
Bliss nodded. “Names are very important.”  
Throwing himself down onto the available chair, Elton felt very proud as he contributed his idea.  
“What we need is a good strong name, like a team. Something like... London Investigation 'n' Detective Agency. LINDA for short.”   
Mr Skinner looked a little lost. “Say it again.”  
“London Investigation 'n' Detective Agency.”  
“N?”  
“Fish 'n' Chips, Rock 'n' Roll. Chaka Demus 'n' Pliers.”   
Bridget tilted her head to one side. “I like it. It's not too solemn.”  
“I like the 'n'.” Bliss commented. “Feels very modern.”   
Finally, Mr Skinner came around to it. “We're the men from LINDA.”  
“And the women.”  
“LINDA United.”   
As the others laughed, throwing the name back and forth like it was a tennis ball, Ursula dropped her voice and glanced at Elton.   
“Did you think of that on the spot?”  
“Nah, I've wanted to use it for years.”   
Mr Skinner stood, spreading his arms wide. “I give you LINDA.”  
And together, they cried, “LINDA!” 

The next week, there was something different. Bridget brought food with her, a gorgeous homemade lasagne - and it almost started a war.   
“Oh my God, that's gorgeous. No, really, wow. Oi, the rest of you, get your hands off!” Ursula had taken the lion’s share of the dish and was hoarding it in a corner, coveting the plate lovingly.   
And then the week after, Mr Skinner had arrived with a thick wad of papers tucked under one arm. He was a little shy at first.   
“I was… well, I was just wondering. I’ve been writing a novel, you see, and I was thinking… maybe you’d like to hear some.”   
They all begged him excitedly, and eventually he caved. He was an incredibly good writer, and kept them all on the edge of their seats until the very last line.   
“That's the last time you ride the ghost train, Johnny Franzetta. Now say your prayers. To be continued.”   
There were groans as he put the manuscript back down on the table.   
“Oh!”  
“You can't leave it there.” 

There were a couple of weeks before the next major development. Elton had been telling the others about what he’d experienced on Christmas morning, the one just gone.   
“So I’m in bed, early in the morning because yeah, it’s Christmas, but I’m not doing anything special and I’d rather have a lie in! Anyway, all of a sudden the windows shatter, and I’m surrounded by glass! It took me twenty minutes to figure out how to get a hold of my boots so I could go to the window! And by that time, there was a great big rock hanging over London. I thought, it had to be aliens, right? Aliens seem to be the cause of most things nowadays.”   
A soft sniffle from Bridget interrupted his storytelling, and Elton frowned.   
“Everything alright, Bridget?”   
“Sorry.” And she started to cry.   
Bliss shuffled her chair closer and put an arm around her, cooing softly.   
“It’s okay, Bridget, you can tell us.”   
“I started all of this because my daughter disappeared. It wasn't aliens that took her away though. It was just drugs. I come down to London every week, and I just keep looking for her.”   
A moment of silence, then Ursula leant forwards and squeezed her friend’s hands.   
“Oh, Bridget.” 

Things were much cheerier over the next few weeks as they discovered the group’s musical talents. Bliss could play the guitar - just about. Bridget was a rather good pianist, and Mr Skinner was surprisingly handy on the drums. And once Elton had admitted his love of the Electric Light Orchestra, things got jazzy. Instead of working towards finding the Doctor, they would gather in the basement of that old library and sing their hearts out, sharing microphones through their mediocre karaoke. There had been a month or so of this arrangement before one Wednesday evening, the electricity shut off in the middle of their performance.   
“Now careful, mind the cables.” Mr Skinner warned.   
A rattle from the lift drew everyone’s attention, and they watched as it descended holding a large man. He was wearing a wide brimmed hat and a raincoat, and was carrying a briefcase.   
He spread his arms, and shouted.   
“Lights!”   
Now, they could see the details. A little greying goatee beard, striped suit, and a black cane with a silver topper in the shape of a fist. Altogether, his whole appearance was rather sinister.   
“So, we meet at last, LINDA.”   
Mr Skinner stepped forward, offering a hand.  
“Pleased to meet you, sir. I'm sorry, was the music too loud?”   
But the man backed away. “No, no, no, no, I don't shake hands. Back, back. I suffer from a skin complaint - Exeema.”  
Elton frowned. “Oh, you mean eczema?”   
“But this is worse, much worse. I blister to the touch. Back, back, all of you. Further, further.” They shuffled back, a little confused but going along with it anyway. “Thank you.”  
“Sorry, don't mind me asking but, who are you?”   
He sneered. “I am Victor Kennedy. And I am your salvation.” 

He opened the briefcase and set a laptop up on one of the tables, taking a moment to go through the saved files. Finding a video, he hit play. The members of LINDA gasped.   
“That's the Doctor.”   
The footage was shaky, and a little blurry, but it was definitely him - striding towards a blue police box with his hands shoved deep in his pockets.   
Elton stared. “It's really him.”   
Mr Kennedy rolled his eyes. “You've forgotten your purpose in life. You, with your band and your cakes and your blubbing and all the while he still exists. The Doctor.”   
“Look at him. Just look.” Bridget couldn’t take her eyes off the screen.   
“Oh though, wait for this bit. The picture cuts out, but the sound still continues. Listen. Listen to the sound of the universe. Yes.”   
The screen flickered into grey static, but the audio was clear. An impossible grinding sound, ancient but entirely futuristic. Elton was hit suddenly with a strong memory, and he flopped down into the nearest chair.   
“Ah, that's.”   
Ursula reached for him. “What is it? What's wrong?”   
“Leave him.” Victor snapped. “You've heard it before, haven't you? When? When was it? Where? Where were you?”   
“I'd forgotten, til now. But it was that night.”   
“What night?”  
“I was just a kid. That's why I went downstairs. It woke me up. That noise. But what is it? What does it mean?”   
“That is the sound of his spaceship. Right then, homework. Using the Torchwood files, we're able to look at all the old databases in a completely new light. We're able to build up a more detailed profile of the Doctor. I've allocated tasks to each of you.” He handed a thick folder to each of them. “I'd like you to complete your targets and meet back here this time next week, one step closer to catching the Doctor. Well, don't just sit there, move!” As they headed for the lift, Victor turned. “Er, Bliss? It is Bliss, isn't it?”  
“Yeah.” The girl smiled kindly.   
“Yes. Could I have a word with you in private, please?”   
“Course you can, yeah.”   
“Thank you. Goodbye, goodbye.” 

Outside the library, Elton and Ursula walked together. Elton felt a little down.   
“Better get to work. Lots to do.”   
She shrugged. “I never thought of it as work.”   
“It's what we've always wanted though, to find the Doctor.”   
“Yeah, I suppose.”

After that, everything changed. The wonderful chaos of the library’s basement had been entirely rearranged into what looked like a schoolroom. There were wooden desks for each of them, and one large one at the front for Mr Kennedy. Surrounding it were shelves stacked high with books and box files, one globe of Earth and one of Mars, and old fashioned phrenology head, and a   
collection of other seemingly random models.   
A couple of sessions passed, and Elton had to admit that they were doing far better with their search now than they had been before. Victor’s rigorous methods were far better. However, it wasn’t all sunshine and roses. Things just weren’t the same, and he had to ask-  
“Mr Kennedy?”   
The man looked up.   
“Yes?”  
“We were wondering. No sign of Bliss. Do you know where she is?”  
He almost seemed to brush the question off.   
“Yes, didn't she tell you? She's getting married. She left a message. It'll never last, stupid girl. Come on, back to work.”   
The next week - and still no Bliss - they caught their biggest lead yet. Mr Skinner shouted joyously, pulling up a CCTV image on his laptop.   
“A police box, newly arrived. It says newly arrived today. And it's in Woolwich!”   
Victor bellowed. “Well, don't just stand there, move! Move, go, go!”   
And so they did. 

Inside the Tardis, the scanner was set up to detect a very specific signal. They’d been trying to track it for a few weeks now, with little success. Earlier in the morning the Doctor had managed to find a piece of equipment somewhere under the console that he hoped would help, so he’d got everything wired in and left it to run. Eris was sat upside down on one of the jump seats, her feet swinging over the back as she read. The book from Herbert was in her hands, and she stroked the grey fabric of the covers subconsciously. It had always been her favourite.   
A ping from the scanner interrupted the escape of the Thunderchild and she groaned, slipping a piece of paper in to mark her place before twisting into a standing position and checking the scanner.   
“Dad?”   
Footsteps, and then the Doctor’s tousled head appeared behind one of the corals.   
“Yeah?”   
“I think we’ve got something.”   
He took a look at the display, and grinned.   
“Gotcha.”   
Five minutes later, the three of them were in an abandoned warehouse, trying to catch up with the creature.   
“Where's he gone? Can you see him?”   
“There he is! Stop. No! Watch out! There!”   
“Where? Where?”   
In one of the corridors, Elton cautiously approached a closed door. Reaching out, hands shaking, he tugged it open - revealing a snarling alien with large teeth. It roared, and he froze.   
Backing away a little, he was aware of a flash of brown beside him, and turned to see the Doctor. He was holding a large slab of meat in his hand.   
“Here, boy. Eat the food. Come on, look at the lovely food. Isn't that nice? Isn't it? Yes, it is.” He turned and hissed at Elton, “Get out of here, quickly.” before returning to his coaxing. “That's a boy. Wouldn't you like a porky-choppy then? I said run!”   
He did so, almost bumping into two girls running in the opposite direction. One was a blonde holding a steaming blue bucket, the other was a brunette with a red bucket. The blonde got there first and threw the contents of the bucket at the alien. The Doctor groaned.   
“Wrong one. You made it worse.”   
“You said blue!”  
“I said not blue.”   
The alien darted after the girl, and her friend took off after them, still armed with the red bucket.   
Following them, the Doctor shut the door behind him and all fell still for a moment. Utterly bewildered, Elton ran from the building, bursting into the yard outside and stopping for a moment, panting heavily.   
And then he saw it. The police box. Just like all the pictures, tall and blue, standing in a very unlikely place. Too afraid to touch it, he backed away, hiding behind a stack of long metal beams. He watched as the trio walked out of the building, laughing and swinging the now empty buckets. They stopped at the doors of the box and waited as the Doctor slid the key into the lock, before following him inside.   
Then, the doors closed again, and soon the air was filled with that wonderful sound. 

When he relayed this information at the next LINDA meeting, Mr Kennedy was less than impressed.   
“Useless!”  
Elton shrugged. “I just froze.”  
“You met him and you froze. You stupid man!” Victor raised his hand, and Elton cringed back a little.   
“You can't hit me, cause you don't touch. You said so. You get a rash and an itch and-”  
“I can use this!” Brandishing the cane, Victor got a real shock when Ursula snatched it from him.   
“Use that cane on him and you'll get one hell of a smack off me! And then a good kick. Is that completely understood, Mr Kennedy?”  
He backed down, eyeing her closely.  
“Duly noted. Ursula Blake, most likely to fight back. Right then, we'll change tack. We'll approach this sideways. If we're to discover the truth about the Doctor, then we need to try and find them.”   
Returning to his desk at the front of the room, Victor picked up a photograph, and brought it back over to the desks of the others. It showed the two girls that Elton had seen earlier. The blonde was looking over her shoulder in the direction of the camera, and the brunette was glancing off to one side.   
“Now when it comes to the Doctor's companions, the Torchwood files are strangely lacking. It seems the evidence has been corrupted. Something called Bad Wolf virus. At least we've got these photographs. They're first hand evidence.”   
Mr Skinner frowned. “How can two people exist without having left a single trace on the world? It just doesn’t seem possible.”   
Victor chuckled. “Oh, there have been traces, alright.” And he scooped up a collection of papers, spreading them out on the desk. “Take a look.”   
The others peered at the documents in wonder. Every single one of them featured the same person. A young, stylish brunette. There was a photo of her standing in front of the Titanic, next to one of her perched on a small boat next to a sign that proclaimed ‘Welcome to Port Elizabeth, South Africa’. Others were sketches, paintings, but the subject of each of them was obviously the same. And then there were the letters - some in a softly looping script, others in a wide range of handwriting. A few were lengthy, spanning several pages, but most were short notes.   
‘Tell Chevalier that I’ll be back later.’   
‘My apologies for not saying a proper goodbye, Charles, but I have had the most exciting opportunity to travel to Japan…’   
‘So maybe I bribed the officers to let me go, that’s hardly illegal is it?’   
Then, one final sheet of paper. This was simply a list of names:   
Ceridwen Morgan   
Sigrid Arne   
Lucrezia Amoretti   
Ysabeau Lemaure   
Eris O’Donnell   
Victor gestured down at the evidence pile.   
“These are all the same woman.”  
Bridget looked utterly bewildered. “How is this supposed to help us?”   
“It won’t.” He snapped. “We have to use the other girl, she’s a more reliable lead. Elton?”   
Looking up from the photos, he cast his mind back to their brief meeting.  
“It was a London accent, definitely. She's from London.”   
“So we hit the streets. We get out there, we take the photographs. Someone's got to know who she is somewhere.”   
Bridget shook her head sadly.  
“Yes, but London's a big place. I mean, I should know. My own daughter's out there.”   
Mr Kennedy rolled his eyes.  
“Bridget, don't make this personal. I don't like to be touched literally, or metaphorically, thank you very much. I haven't got the time. Bleeding hearts outside. Find me that girl! Go. Now. Move.”   
As he left, Elton was puzzling it over in his mind. How on Earth was he meant to find one girl in a city of ten million people? 

It had been surprisingly easier than he’d thought, and within a week he’d managed to execute steps one through four of Mr Kennedy’s infiltration and investigation plan. Jackie Tyler was quite the open book. So he’d been very confident walking into the next LINDA meeting, and his confidence only grew as he saw Victor’s reaction.   
“Magnificent! Oh, I could kiss you. Except I can't, of course. The exeema.”   
“I've even got a picture of her on my phone.” He showed the others.   
Mr Skinner was impressed.   
“Oh it's amazing. You've achieved steps one to four in precise order. How did you manage it?”  
Elton couldn’t resist playing it up a bit.   
“Well, I had to work very hard. She keeps everything very close to her chest.”   
Next to him, Ursula muttered. “That's a hell of a chest.”  
“But how do you move on? Step five, that's the problem.” Bridget mused.   
Back at his desk, Victor gave his orders.  
“Step five. That's this week's homework. I want a full plan of attack from each of you. Now go on, vamoose. Avanti. There's work to do. And Elton? Keep infiltrating. You will do anything to get than information, boy, anything!”   
“Yes, sir!”  
“Oh, oh, Bridget. Bridget, oh yes. Could I have a word with you in private, please?”   
The woman looked a little awkward.   
“Er, Mr Skinner's giving me a lift.”   
“Oh, I can drop you at the station. I'm sure Mr Skinner won't mind, will you?”  
Mr Skinner smiled. “Not at all. Well, Bridget, I'll see you next week.”   
“All right then.”   
He leant down to kiss her on the cheek, and then joined the others as they got into the lift. 

The moment they got outside, Ursula shot a look at Mr Skinner.   
“Now, Mister Skinner, I don't mean to pry, but did you give Bridget a little kiss back then?”  
He blushed. “I think I did.”   
“And if you get your way, might there be more little kisses between the two of you?”   
“I think there might.”  
“I knew it!”  
Elton grinned. “That's brilliant!”  
Mr Skinner was getting redder by the second. “Now, let's not get excited. We'll see.”   
As they walked, none of them noticed the faint screaming from the library. 

Settled in the kitchen, the Doctor and Eris sat on opposite sides of the table in companionable silence. It was nice to have a few moments of peace and quiet for once, especially after the last few hectic adventures. Just the two of them, and a cup of tea each, enjoying a rare bit of calm. As always, it didn’t last long. Rose joined them, rubbing at her eyes and clutching her phone in her left hand. Looking up, Eris frowned.  
“Everything alright?”   
“Just had a really odd phone call from my mum.”   
The Doctor looked up, noticing the unusual tone in her voice.   
“Has something happened?”   
Anger flared in her eyes.   
“Some bloke got all friendly with her and mum thought she’d finally found someone nice. Turns out he was only doing it because he was looking for me.”   
“What?!”   
“Apparently he’s looking for you, Doctor. And he thought he could do that by finding me. Mum’s convinced he’s some sort of perv.”   
Eris shook her head. “Are you sure she’s okay?”   
Rose smiled softly. “Yeah, mum’s a tough cookie. She’s just upset that she got tricked.”   
“We can go and check on her, if you like?”   
“I’d much rather pay a visit to the man who made her cry.”   
The Doctor stood. “Alright then. Let’s go and find him.” 

In the basement of the library, a full blown row was in progress.   
“And she was right. It's shameful. We used that woman!” Elton roared, slamming a hand down on his desk.   
Mr Kennedy sneered. “I knew I couldn't trust you. You broke cover. You stupid little man, you failed step five.”  
“I don't care about step five. Because it's all gone wrong, Mr Kennedy, ever since you turned up. We used to come here every week, and we'd have a laugh. We were friends. No wonder they stopped coming. I mean, there's no Bliss any more, and even Bridget, she hasn't turned up.”   
Two desks away, Mr Skinner agreed.  
“I've been phoning and phoning her. There's no reply.”   
“And who can blame her. I'm sorry, Victor, but you're on your own because I am leaving!” He stood. “And so are you, Mister Skinner. And as for you, Ursula. You're coming with me. And we're going to the Golden Locust and we're going to have a Chinese.”   
Ursula blinked. “What's that got to do with it?”  
“I mean you and me. Together. Having a meal. If you want.”  
“Oh. I'd love it.”  
Victor was bristling with rage.  
“But you can't leave. You'll never know what he was doing. The Doctor. You'll never know what he was doing in your house all those years ago.”   
Elton sighed. “No, I'll never know. Ursula, get your stuff. Mr Skinner, are you coming? Not to the Chinese, if you don't mind. Just sort of walking out.”  
Mr Skinner nodded. “I certainly am.”   
“Victor, good luck. Goodbye.”   
As they walked towards the lift, Victor called out.   
“Mr Skinner, would you stay for a minute, please?”   
“We're walking out.” He shrugged.   
“I've got numbers for Bridget! I've kept records, I've got old numbers. We could track her down. Together, you and I.”   
He thought for a moment, then smiled.   
“That's more like the old team spirit. You two have a nice time.”  
Ursula smiled back. “I hope you find her.”   
“I'll email you.” Elton nodded, before stepping into the lift.   
And they ascended. 

In the street, arm in arm, Elton and Ursula mused over their Chinese orders.   
“Mmm, prawns!”  
“Yeah, I like prawns.”  
“Do you?”  
“Crispy aromatic though.”   
Then, Ursula stopped mid stride, her face dropping as she patted at her coat.   
“Oh, I left my phone.”  
Elton groaned. “Really?”  
“Yeah. It's not in my pocket.”  
“So much for the big exit.”  
“Yeah, come on. Hurry up.”   
They both felt utterly ridiculous as they took the lift back down to the basement - some walkout this turned out to be! 

Ursula led the way out, calling to Mr Kennedy before she’d even stepped out of the lift.   
“I'm not stopping, I just left my phone. Victor?”   
She couldn’t see him. Obviously, he was there - sat at the desk, as usual. But his entire upper body was obscured by a copy of the Daily Telegraph. When he spoke, his voice sounded… wrong.   
“Take your phone and go.”  
“Where's Mister Skinner?”   
A pause, and a slightly panicked response.  
“He's gone to the toilet.”   
Elton shook his head. “But we haven't got toilets. We have to use the pub on the corner.”   
“Well, well, well, that's, that's where he is, then.”   
The conversation was joined by a muffled voice.   
“Help me.”  
Ursula frowned. “What was that?”  
“Nothing. It was nothing. It was nothing!”  
“Help me!”   
“Shut up.” Mr Kennedy snarled.   
Elton gasped. “That's Mister Skinner!”  
But Ursula had noticed something far more concerning.   
“Victor, look at your hands.”   
Two fat, sickly green fingers, with wickedly sharp black nails.   
“Look at the rest of me.” 

The paper was lowered, and Elton and Ursula took a step back. Instead of Mr Kennedy, there was a grossly obese alien - it had to be an alien - with shaggy black hair and putrid green skin.   
“You've dabbled with aliens. Now meet the genuine article.”   
“Oh, my God.”  
Elton pointed at him. “You're a thing!”   
Victor scoffed. “A thing? This thing is my true form. Better than that crude pink shape you call a body.”   
A face shaped protrusion on the left side of it’s fat belly spoke.   
“What happened? Where am I? Ursula? Is that you?”  
Ursula felt like she wanted to be sick. “That's Mister Skinner. What have you done to him?”  
“I've absorbed him.”  
Another voice came from just behind the creature’s right shoulder. Another one they knew.  
“Colin? Is that you? Colin!”  
“Bridget, my love?”  
Ursula was practically grey. “Oh, my God, that's Bridget!”   
“Colin, where are you?”  
“I'm here, Bridget. It's all right. I'm close.”   
“You've absorbed them both!”   
Elton jumped in. “What about Bliss? Where is she?”   
The only response was a muffled grumble.   
“What?”   
Victor shifted in his seat, and Bliss repeated herself.   
“I said, you really don't want to know.”   
Now, he was almost shaking with anger.  
“You've absorbed her. Are you some sort of Absorbathon? An Absorbaling? An Absorbaloff.”  
“Yes, I like that.” Victor clicked his fingers.   
Ursula took a step towards the bulky beast.  
“Let them go. I'm ordering you. Let those people go!”  
“Oh, but they taste so sweet. Just think about the Doctor. Oh, how will he taste? All that experience, all that knowledge. And if I've got to absorb Jackie Tyler to get to him, then so be it.”  
“Don't you dare.” Elton hissed.   
Storming forwards, Ursula ripped the cane from Victor’s hand.   
“If I have to beat them out of you.”  
He threw his hands up in a clear mockery of innocence.  
“Oh, no, no. Please don't hit me. Look at me. I'm such a slow and clumsy beast. Please don't hit me.”  
“Well, then give them back.”  
“What, you mean like this?” And he lunged, grabbing her arm. “Just one touch. That's all it takes.”   
She started to dissolve before Elton’s very eyes. “Oh, no. Oh, oh no.”   
“Leave her alone!” He shouted.   
Before he could move, Ursula turned to look at him, pleading.  
“Don't touch me. Oh, Elton, I'm so sorry. You can't touch me.”  
“Ursula.”  
Victor scoffed. “Most likely to fight back, indeed.”  
“Leave her alone! No, that's not fair.”   
As Ursula’s face appeared on the creature’s chest, he slurped.   
“She tastes like chicken.”   
She blinked, confused. “Elton, where are you?”   
He resorted to begging.   
“Please. Mister Kennedy, please. I'm asking you. I'm begging you. Give her back to me.”   
“I can't. Once they've been absorbed, the process is irreversible.”   
Ursula made a noise of dismay.   
“Wait a minute. Now I've been absorbed, I can read his thoughts. Oh, my God. Elton, you're next! Get out of here. Now you've seen him, he can't let you go. Just run. Go on. Never mind me, get out!”   
Victor snarled. “Isn't she the clever one?”   
The other members of LINDA shouted over each other.   
“Run, Elton! Run!”   
“Save yourself, boy!”   
“Run for your life!”   
With surprising agility, Victor vaulted over the desk, and Elton ran for it. 

He felt like he’d been running for hours, but it could only have been a few minutes, maybe not even that. All the way, the Absorbaloff had been right behind him. His escape came to an abrupt stop when he turned into a dead end, and he turned to face his pursuer, panting. It sneered.  
“Oh, what's the matter? Have you given up so soon?”   
Elton knew his voice was entirely flat, but he simply didn’t care.  
“There's no point. Where would I go? Everything I ever wanted…”  
“Has been absorbed.” The creature finished.   
On it’s chest, Ursula crooned softly. “Oh, Elton. Don't say that.”  
“But it's true!” He wailed.  
An ugly green hand was extended.  
“Then join us. Join us, little man. Come on. It's everlasting peace. Come on. Join us. Dissolve into me.” 

And then behind him, a sound he thought he’d never hear again. That ancient wheezing, groaning grind of engines that were built in the far reaches of space. The Tardis. As it landed, he looked over his shoulder to see the Doctor opening the doors, stepping aside slightly to leave the entrance clear. There was an odd look on his face.   
“Someone wants a word with you.”   
Rose Tyler marched out of the Tardis and stopped just in front of him, arms crossed.   
“You upset my mum.”  
Elton was gobsmacked.  
“Great big absorbing creature from outer space, and you're having a go at me?”   
“No one upsets my mum.”  
The creature that had once been Victor Kennedy gurgled gleefully.  
“At last. The greatest feast of all. The Doctor.”   
Glancing over at Eris as she closed the Tardis doors behind her, the Doctor hummed thoughtfully. “Interesting. A sort of Absorbatrix? Absorbaclon? Absorbaloff?”  
“Absorbaloff, yes.”  
Rose pulled a face. “Is it me or is he a bit Slitheen?”  
He agreed. “Not from Raxacoricofallapatorius, are you?”  
The Absorbaloff grimaced. “No, I'm not. They're swine. I spit on them. I was born on their twin planet.”  
“Really? What's the twin planet of Raxacoricofallapatorius?”   
“Clom.”  
Eris barked out a laugh. “Clom?!”  
“Clom. Yes. And I'll return there victorious, once I possess your travelling machine.”   
The Doctor huffed.   
“Well, that's never going to happen.”   
“Oh, it will. You'll surrender yourself to me, Doctor, or this one dies. You see, I've read about you, Doctor. I've studied you. So passionate, so sweet. You wouldn't let an innocent man die. And I'll absorb him, unless you give yourself to me.”   
“Sweet, maybe. Passionate, I suppose. But don't ever mistake that for nice. Do what you want.”   
“He'll die, Doctor.”   
Shrugging, he turned away. “Go on, then.”   
“So be it.”   
“Mind you, the others might have something to say.”   
Confusion clouded the alien’s eyes.   
“Others?”   
Gasping, Ursula cried out.   
“He's right. The Doctor's right. We can't let him. Oh, Mr Skinner, Bridget, pull!”   
“No!”  
“For God's sake, pull!”  
“No, don't - get off, get off!”  
“If it's the last thing we ever do. Bliss! All of us together. Come on, pull!”  
“Stop it!”   
“LINDA united, pull!”   
They watched as the faces distorted as they projected from the skin they were trapped in, pulling with all their might. Victor’s cane slid from his hand, and Ursula shouted.   
“Elton, the cane. Break it!”   
Scrambling, Elton grabbed the sleek black stick and slammed it down on his knee, snapping it in two.   
The Absorbaloff howled. “My cane! You stupid man. Oh, no!” But he couldn’t say another word as he turned entirely into liquid, splashing messily across the pavement. 

The onlookers stood silent for a moment, before Elton turned to face his rescuers.   
“What did I do?”   
The Doctor kicked one of the halves of the cane.   
“The cane created a limitation field. Now it's broken, he can't stop. The absorber is being absorbed.”   
“By what?”  
“By the earth.”   
As the last drops of green goop dribbled away down the cracks, the shape of a face tried to push through the concrete of the floor. A strained voice managed to whisper as Elton knelt down. A soft, sweet voice that he’d fallen in love with.   
“Bye, bye, Elton. Bye, bye.”   
And then she was gone.   
Quiet, raspy sobs fell from Elton’s lips, and Eris dropped to her knees beside him, rubbing his back.  
“Who was she?”  
“That was Ursula.”

It had taken her two and a half weeks, but-   
“I found it!”   
The Doctor and Rose came running at Eris’ shout, crowding around the scanner display.   
“Are you sure?” Rose was chewing nervously at her lip.  
“Yep. Here you go.”   
She pressed play, and Elton’s face flickered into life. He’d clearly been mid-sentence.   
“And that's it. Almost. Because the Doctor still had more to say.” He took a deep breath, ran a hand over his face, and gazed up at the ceiling of his bedroom.   
“And then he explained. That night, all those years ago. An elemental shade, he called it. From somewhere called the Howling Halls. And there were these women there, such kind women, who took me into my kitchen and made me a cup of tea. I was four years old, but I always remembered those smiles. How sad they’d been the second I turned away. When I went back into the living room, all he said was ‘I’m sorry, I wasn’t in time to save her’. Because that was the night my mother died.”  
The trio watched on solemnly as Elton, cheeks blotchy and eyes red, blinked hard to stop himself breaking down.   
“We forget because we must. So, there you go. Turns out I've had the most terrible things happen. And the most brilliant things. And sometimes, well, I can't tell the difference. They're all the same thing. They're just me. You know, Steven King said once, he said, salvation and damnation are the same thing. And I never knew what he meant. But I do now. Because the Doctor might be wonderful, but thinking back, I was having such a special time. Just for a bit. I had this nice little gang, and they were destroyed. It's not his fault, but maybe that's what happens if you touch the Doctor. Even for a second. I keep thinking of Rose and Jackie, and Eris. And how much longer before they pay the price.”   
The Doctor jumped, then relaxed as Eris’ arm made its way around his back and squeezed him reassuringly. 

On the video, a woman’s voice sounded from out of the frame.   
“Oh, now don't get all miserable. Come on, Elton. You've still got me.”   
His face lit up. “Oh, yeah. 'Cos the Doctor said he could do one last thing with his magic wand.  
Even then, after all that, the Doctor saved me one last time.”  
Leaning towards the camera, Elton clearly struggled for a second to lift something that was tucked behind it. Once he managed to do so, he sat back in his chair and revealed… a paving slab. A paving slab with a face. In the Tardis, the three watchers cheered.   
“Here she is.”   
Ursula smiled lovingly. “Could be worse. At least I'll never age. And it really is quite peaceful, you'd be surprised.”   
Elton laughed. “It's a relationship, of sorts, but we manage.” Then, his face became a smirk.  
“We've even got a bit of a love life.”  
“Oh, let's not go into that.”  
“And I don't care what anyone thinks. I love her.” 

Rose brought a hand to her chest. “That’s so sweet! I’m so glad it worked out.”   
Waving a hand, Eris shushed her. Because Elton clearly wasn’t finished speaking.   
“But the thing is-” And he raised a small black remote, and the camera zoomed in on his face.  
“There we are. I've even bought a remote zoom. But what I wanted to say is, you know, when you're a kid, they tell you it's all, grow up, get a job, get married, get a house, have a kid, and that's it. But the truth is, the world is so much stranger than that. It's so much darker, and so much madder. And so much better.”


	12. Fear Her

“Ah.”   
“What’s wrong?”   
The Doctor glanced over his shoulder at his girls. Eris had a knowing look on her face, but Rose just looked a little confused.   
“Nothing major, just a slight… calibration fault. Hold on.”   
He closed the doors before she could see that he’d landed them with no way of getting out of the ship. Returning to the console - and with Eris’ help - he managed to turn the Tardis by ninety degrees and land in exactly the same spot, at exactly the same time.   
“That’s better!” He grinned, walking out to the construction yard with his hands shoved in his pockets.   
Rose looked around, and her eye caught on a large poster proclaiming: Shane Ward, Greatest Hits!   
“So, near future, yeah?”   
He smirked.   
“I had a passing fancy. Only it didn't pass, it stopped.” 

The nearest residential area was a place called Dame Kelly Holmes Close, and it was clear to see what the Doctor had been aiming for from the moment they got to the entrance.   
“Thirtieth Olympiad.”   
A large banner for the London 2012 Olympics fluttered lightly in the breeze.   
Rose grinned, linking an arm with his. “No way! Why didn't I think of this? That's great.”   
“Only seems like yesterday a few naked Greek blokes were tossing a discus about, wrestling each other in the sand with crowds stood around baying. No, wait a minute, that was Club Med.” He laughed at his own joke, laughing harder at the eye roll both girls gave him.  
“Just in time for the opening doo dah, ceremony, tonight, I thought you'd like that. Last one they had in London was dynamite. Wembley, 1948. I loved it so much, I went back and watched it all over again. Fella carrying the torch. Lovely chap, what was his…”   
But neither of his companions were listening to him any more. They’d both seen a rather upset looking man sticking posters to all the lampposts in the street, and went to check one out. The Doctor was still rambling.   
“Mark? John? Mark? Legs like pipe cleaners, but strong as a whippet.”  
“Doctor.”  
“And in those days, everybody had a tea party to go to.”   
“Dad!”   
Finally spotting them, he walked over, still talking about the tea parties.   
“Did you ever have one of those little cakes with the crunchy ball bearings on top? Do you know those things? Nobody else in this entire galaxy's ever even bothered to make edible ball bearings. Genius.”   
A glare from Rose got him to pay attention. It was a missing children’s poster for a boy named Dale Hicks. Above his, was a poster of a little girl. And further down the brick wall they could see yet another poster with the word ‘Missing’ in bright red letters at the top. 

“What's taking them, do you think? Snatching children from a thoroughly ordinary street like this. Why's it so cold? Is someone reducing the temperature?”   
“It says they all went missing this week. Why would a person do something like this?” Rose shook her head.   
The Doctor’s look darkened a little. “What makes you think it's a person?”   
Around them, the street was almost entirely empty except for a few road workers and their van.   
“Whatever it is, it's got the whole street scared to death. Doctor, what-”  
But he’d already run off to investigate a garden. 

Before they could join him, they were distracted by the sputtering engine of a Mini. One of the road workers had gone over to help him.   
“There you go. Fifth today. Not natural, is it?”   
The driver shrugged. “I don't know what happened, I had it serviced less than a month ago.”   
“Nah, don't even try and explain it, mate. All the cars are doing it. And do you know what? It's bonkers. Bonkers. Come on then, pal. I'll help you shift it. Quicker you're on the way, happier you'll be.”  
The two men started pushing the car, with little success.   
Eris and Rose moved to help them.   
“Do you want a hand?”   
The road worker’s name badge said Kel. “No, we're all right, love.”   
Rose snorted. “You're not. I'm tougher than I look, honest.”   
And they both joined in, pushing the car much further and more efficiently than the boys had been, until the engine burst into life again. The driver said thanks and drove away.   
“Does this happen a lot?” Rose asked.   
“Been doing it all week.”  
Eris hummed thoughtfully. “Since those children started going missing?”   
He thought for a second.   
“Yeah, I suppose so.” 

The Doctor was currently blissfully unaware that the owner of the garden he was currently crouched in was watching him, arms crossed. He held his hand out over a patch of grass and giggled.   
“Ooo, tickles!”   
Unable to put up with it any longer, the man grabbed his shoulder.   
“What's your game?”   
He turned to look up at him. “My er... Snakes and Ladders? Quite good at squash. Reasonable. I'm being facetious, aren't I? There's no call for it.” 

Kel, Rose and Eris were strolling down the close. The girls were listening to Kel’s take on things.   
“Every car cuts out. The council are going nuts. I mean, they've given this street the works. Renamed it. I've been tarmacking every pot hole. Look at that. Beauty, init? Yeah! And all that is because that Olympic Torch comes right by the end of this Close. Just down there. Everything's got to be perfect, ain't it? Only it ain't.”   
An old woman approached them. “It takes them when they're playing.”   
“What takes them?” Eris frowned, alarmed at the use of ‘it’.   
“Danny, Jane, Dale. Snatched in the blink of an eye.” 

The Doctor was backing into the road.   
“I'm, I'm a police officer! That's what I am. I've got a badge and a police car. You don't have to get- I can, I can prove it. Just hold on.”   
He tried to find the psychic paper in his pockets as the man sneered.   
“We've had plenty of coppers poking around here, and you don't look or sound like any of them.”   
“See, look. I've got a colleagues. Lewis and Stewart.”   
Rose and Eris had caught up with them, smiling politely at the man so as not to anger him further.   
“Lewis?” He glanced over at Rose. “She looks less like a copper than you do.”   
The Doctor shrugged, finally setting his hands on the paper.   
“Training. New recruit. It was either that or hairdressing, so, voila!”   
A couple of other people had joined them - a youngish woman with blonde hair and a slightly older black woman. She started asking questions first.   
“What are you going to do?”   
The old woman shook her head. “The police have knocked on every door. No clues, no leads, nothing.”   
“Look, kids run off sometimes, all right? That's what they do.” The man - clearly a father of one of the missing children - seemed to be trying to convince himself more than anyone else.   
“Saw it with me own eyes. Dale Hicks in your garden, playing with your Tommy, and then pfft! Right in front of me, like he was never there. There's no need to look any further than this street. It's right here amongst us.”   
The Doctor tried to step in.   
“Why don't we-”  
“Why don't we start with him?” The blonde interrupted, pointing an accusatory finger at Kel.  
“There's been all sorts like him in this street, day and night.”   
Kel looked hurt. “Fixing things up for the Olympics.”   
“Yeah, and taking an awful long time about it.”   
A little desperate now, the Doctor tried again.  
“I'm of the opinion that all we've got to do is just-”  
“You don't. What you just said, that's slander!”   
“I don't care what it is.”   
“I want an apology off her.”   
The old woman stepped in. “Stop picking on him.”   
“Yeah, stop picking on me.”   
“And stop pretending to be blind. It's evil!”   
The woman scoffed. “I don't believe in evil.”   
Kel huffed. “Oh no, you just believe in tarmackers with sack loads of kidnapped kiddies in their van.”  
The man looked a little alarmed at that statement, and backtracked.  
“Here, here, here, that's not what she's saying.”  
“Would you stop ganging up on me?”   
“Feeling guilty, are we?” She crowed, and the Doctor had had enough.   
“Fingers on lips!”   
Shocked, everyone followed his lead and rested a finger against their lips in the universal shush gesture - even Rose, after a little encouragement. This gave him the chance to speak, and actually be heard.   
“In the last six days, three of your children have been stolen. Snatched out of thin air, right?”   
The old woman raised her hand. “Er, can I? Look around you. This was a safe street till it came. It's not a person. I'll say it if no one else will. Maybe you're coppers, maybe you're not. I don't care who you are. Can you please help us?” 

As the Doctor sniffed about in the garden of the house he’d been loitering at before, Rose and Eris stood out of his way. They had both seen the silhouette of a young girl in one of the windows, but neither had mentioned it so far - it was probably just a kid that got curious about what all the chatter in the road was about. Rose looked a little put off as the Doctor sniffed deeply.   
“Want a hanky?”  
“Can you smell it? What does it remind you of?”   
They got closer, and both girls wrinkled their noses as it hit them.   
“Sort of metal?”   
Eris looked a little nauseous. “Definitely metallic.”   
The Doctor stood up, and led them down an alleyway between two lots of back gardens.   
“Danny Edwards cycled in one end but never came out the other. Whoa, there it goes again! Look at the hairs on the back of my manly hairy hand.”   
Rose nodded. “And there's that smell. It's like a er, a burnt fuse plug or something.”   
“There's a residual energy in the spots where the kids vanished. Whatever it was, it used an awful lot of power to do this.” 

Back on Dame Kelly Holmes Close, Rose spotted a ginger tom weaving it’s way gracefully between the bushes.   
“Aren't you a beautiful boy?”  
The Doctor preened a little, touching his hair lightly.   
“Thanks! I'm experimenting with back combing.” Then, he noticed. “Oh.”   
Next to him, Eris doubled over laughing, tears streaming down her cheeks at the look of consternation and disgust on her dad’s face.   
“I used to have one like you.” Rose saw his reaction. “What?”   
“No, I'm not really a cat person. Once you've been threatened by one in a nun's wimple, it kind of takes the joy out of it.”   
Calming down a little, Eris pulled a face too.   
“Sorry Rose, I’m not big on cats either. Got chased by some very carnivorous ones once, and it’s definitely spoiled the appeal for me.”  
The cat, ignoring them, slunk inside an overturned cardboard box. Rose followed it, cooing.  
“Come here, puss. What do you want to go in there for?”   
But when she got to the box, it was completely empty - and the smell coming from it was horrific.   
“Doctor! Phew.”   
They joined her, both recoiling at the strength of the odour.   
“Whoa! Hoo, hoo, hoo, hoo. Ion residue. Blimey! That takes some doing. Just to snatch a living organism out of space-time. This baby is just like, I'm having some of that. I'm impressed.”   
Rose looked up and down the street. “So the cat's been transported?”  
“It can harness huge reserves of ionic power. We need to find the source of that power. Find the source and you will find whatever has taken to stealing children and fluffy animals. See what you can see. Keep them peeled, Lewis.” 

While the Doctor took the front, Rose and Eris went for the back end of the close, walking between a long line of garages. A noise from one of them caught Rose’s attention, but Eris didn’t seem to have noticed.   
“Is that you, puss cat? Are you trapped?” There were more noises and a lot more thumping, and her heart sank a little as she approached. “Not going to open it, not going to open it, not going to open it…”   
Deciding to do it anyway, she gently pulled at the door and opened it, seconds before being knocked to the ground by a large whirling ball of greyish squiggles. She yelped in surprise and the next thing she knew, there was a blur of movement and Eris slammed down on the ground beside her, struggling to hold onto the thing as it fought back against her.   
The Doctor came running, aiming the sonic screwdriver at the ball.   
“Stay still!”   
He used it and the ball shrunk down to the size of a small tennis ball. Which would have been perfect, had Eris not been using her chest to press it down. Her chin slammed down onto the concrete and she swore, rolling onto her back and rubbing at her jaw. Rose picked the ball up and got to her feet, helping Eris up with her. The Doctor checked them both over.   
“Okey dokey?”   
“Yeah, cheers.”   
Eris grimaced. “Sore, but nothing broken. I’ll be fine.”  
“No problem. I'll give you a fiver if you can tell me what the hell it is though, because I haven't got the foggiest.” He tossed the little ball up and down.   
“Well, I can tell you you've just killed it.” Rose poked at it.   
“It was never living. It's animated by energy. Same energy that's snatching people. That is so dinky! The go anywhere creature. Fits in your pocket, makes friends, impresses the boss, breaks the ice at parties.” 

Back in the Tardis, the mysterious ball was resting snugly in the detection port on the console, while the scanner got to work. It chirped a couple of times, and the Doctor put his glasses on.   
“Oh, hello, here we go. Let's have a look.”  
He and Eris squinted at the screen, with the latter trying to spell out the results.  
“I’m not quite sure what that bit says. But this part… G. R. A. P. H-”   
She was cut off by a gasp of shock from the Doctor.   
“Get out of here.”   
Not entirely sure what was happening, Rose frowned at her friends.   
“What's it say?”   
Rummaging in his pockets for a moment, the Doctor pulled out a pencil with a rubber on the end, and tentatively rubbed at the ball. Some of it disappeared.   
“It is. It's graphite. Basically the same material as an HB pencil.”   
Rose snorted, incredulous. “I was attacked by a pencil scribble?”   
“Scribble creature, brought into being with ionic energy. Whatever we're dealing with, it can create things as well as take them. But why make a scribble creature?”   
“Maybe it was a mistake. I mean, you scribble over something when you want to get rid of it, like a, like a drawing. Like a... a child's drawing.” Something hit her. “You said it was in the street.”   
“Probably.”   
“The girl.”   
“Of course! What girl?”   
Eris thought back to the houses on the street, and remembered.   
“There was a girl in one of the windows, are you thinking about her?”   
Rose nodded. “Something about her gave me the creeps. Even her own mum looked scared of her.”   
The Doctor couldn’t hold back his grin. “Are you deducting?”   
“I think I am.”   
“Copper's hunch?”   
Giggling a little, Rose put on a Cockney accent.   
“Permission to follow it up, Sarge?” 

After checking that this one was definitely the right house - they’d already visited two, and been very embarrassed to realise they were at the wrong ones - the girls made the Doctor knock on the door. He rang the doorbell a few times, and rattled at the letterbox before the woman answered the door.   
“Hello. I'm the Doctor and this is Rose. Can we see your daughter?”   
“No, you can't.”   
He shrugged, and turned to walk away. “Okay. Bye.”   
Before he could get to the end of the garden path, the woman called to him.   
“Why? Why do you want to see Chloe?”   
“Well, there's some interesting stuff going on in this street, and I just thought. Well, we thought, that she might like to give us a hand.”   
Eris smiled kindly. “Sorry to bother you.”   
“Yeah, sorry. We'll let you get on with things. On your own. Bye again.”   
The three of them had just got onto the pavement again when she shouted back to them.   
“Wait! Can you help her?”   
“Yes, I can.” 

Letting them into her home, the woman - Trish - sighed.   
“She stays in her room most of the time. I try talking to her, but it's like trying to speak to a brick wall. She gives me nothing, just asks to be left alone.”   
Rose perched on the arm of the sofa.   
“What about Chloe's dad?”  
Something changed on Trish’s face, and both Eris and the Doctor noticed. It was definitely grief, but there was something else in there too - relief, maybe some guilt.   
“Chloe's dad died a year ago.”   
“I'm sorry.”   
She sniffed. “You wouldn't be if you'd known him.”   
The Doctor clapped his hands together. “Well, let's go and say hi.”   
“I should check on her first. She might be asleep.” And Trish glanced nervously up the stairs.   
“Why are you afraid of her, Trish?”   
“I want you to know before you see her that she's really a great kid.”   
Eris smiled reassuringly. “I'm sure she is.”   
“She's never been in trouble at school. You should see her report from last year. A's and B's.”   
“Impressive!”   
Rose interrupted. “Can I use your loo?”   
Trish nodded, and directed her up the stairs before continuing.   
“She's in the choir. She's singing in an old folks home. Any mum would be proud. You know I want you to know these things before you see her, Doctor, because right now… she's not herself.”  
Upstairs, Rose hid herself in the airing cupboard as Chloe left her bedroom, heading towards the stairs. Once she was sure that the girl was downstairs, she crept into her bedroom. It was fairly normal, aside from the wall behind her bed - it was plastered with sheets of paper, covered in drawings. Most of them were people, with a few animals thrown in here and there too. The desk, bed and floor were littered with papers too, and she picked up the nearest one. It was a drawing of a sad looking little boy in a Union flag T-shirt, and a ginger cat that looked suspiciously like the one that had disappeared into the box a little while earlier. As she stepped backwards she knocked against the desk and sent a jar of coloured pencils flying to the ground. She stooped to pick them up, and set them back where they had been before looking at the picture again. Her heart stopped as she did so - because now, the little boy was scowling. 

Conversation stopped as Chloe entered the kitchen, making a beeline for the fridge and getting herself a drink of milk. The Doctor waved cheerily.   
“Alright, there? I'm the Doctor, and this is Eris.”   
“I'm Chloe Webber.”   
“How're you doing, Chloe Webber?”   
“I'm busy. I'm making something, aren't I, mum?”   
Trish took the opportunity to express more of her concerns.   
“And like I said, she's not been sleeping.”   
Spotting the telltale streaks of coloured pencil on her hands and sleeves, the Doctor smiled.  
“But you've been drawing, though. I'm rubbish. Eris is pretty good, but stick men are about my limit. Can do this, though.”   
He held his hand up in the Vulcan salute. “Can you do that?”   
Chloe didn’t look impressed, and pulled a face.   
“They don't stop moaning.”   
Trish frowned down at her daughter. “Chloe.”   
“I try to help them, but they don't stop moaning.”   
Eris tilted her head to one side a little. “Who don't?”   
“We can be together.”   
“Sweetheart.” Trish tried to reach out a hand, but Chloe stepped out of reach.   
“Don't touch me, mum.”   
Exchanging looks with her dad, Eris pressed on.  
“Can you tell us what you’re working on, Chloe.”   
“I'm busy.”   
The Doctor tried cajoling her a little more.   
“Come on, Chloe. Don't be a spoilsport. What's the big project? I'm dying to know. What're you making up there?”   
A sudden scream from upstairs interrupted them - it was Rose!   
“Doctor!” 

He was the first one to get there, closely followed by Eris, and they both put themselves between her and the wardrobe as the thing inside growled.   
“I'm coming to hurt you.”   
The Doctor shoved the doors closed as Rose pointed shakily at it.   
“Look at it.”   
Eris led her away. “I’d rather not, thanks.”   
Trish joined them, Chloe by her side. “What the hell was that?”  
Rose’s breathing was still a little erratic as she answered.  
“A drawing. The face of a man.”   
“What face?” She started forwards as if to open the wardrobe.   
“Best not.”   
“Chloe, what've you been drawing?”   
The girl seemed apathetic. “I drew him yesterday.”   
“Who?”   
“Dad.”   
“Your dad? But he's long gone. Chloe, with all the lovely things in the world, why him?”   
“I dream about him, staring at me.”   
“I thought we were putting him behind us. What's the matter with you?”   
“We need to stay together.”   
Trish tried to put an arm around her. “Yes, we do.”  
But Chloe pulled away.   
“No. Not you, us. We need to stay together, and then it'll be alright.”   
A little wary, Rose brought up the subject they were all avoiding.   
“Trish, the drawings. Have you seen what Chloe's drawings can do?”   
Eyes flashing angrily, Trish crossed her arms.   
“Who gave you permission to come into her room? Get out of my house.”   
Eris looked up from a pile of papers on Chloe’s desk.   
“Tell us about the drawings, Chloe.”   
“I don't want to hear any more of this.”   
Rose was doing her best not to shout at the woman.  
“But that drawing of her dad. I heard a voice. He spoke.”   
“He's dead. And these, they're kid's pictures. Now get out!”   
“Chloe has a power. And I don't know how, but she used it to take Danny Edwards, Dale Hicks. She's using it to snatch the kids.”   
“Get out.”   
“Have you seen those drawings move?”   
A pause. “I haven't seen anything.”   
The Doctor turned, sensing her dishonesty.   
“Yes, you have, out of the corner of your eye.”   
“No.”   
“And you dismissed it, because what choice do you have when you see something you can't possibly explain? You dismiss it, right? And if anyone mentions it, you get angry, so it's never spoken of, ever again.”   
Trish sounded less angry now, just defeated. “She's a child.”   
He stepped towards her. “You're terrified of her. But there's nowhere to turn to, because who's going to believe the things you see out of the corner of your eye? No one. Except me.”   
“Who are you?”   
“I'm help.” 

With tensions still running a little high, they had moved down to the kitchen. Naturally, the Doctor put his foot in it once again by swiping a jar of marmalade from the counter and opening it, dipping two fingers in and licking them clean. Rose cleared her throat at the same time as Eris stamped on his foot, and he realised what he was doing. He put the jar back down, and Rose got the conversation back on track.   
“Those pictures, they're alive. She's drawing people and they end up in her pictures.”   
He nodded. “Ionic energy. Chloe's harnessing it to steal those kids and place them in some kind of holding pen made up of ionic power.”   
“And what about the dad from hell in her wardrobe?”   
Trish groaned. “How many times do I have to tell you, he's dead!”  
“Well, he's got a very loud voice for a dead bloke.”  
The Doctor hummed thoughtfully. “If living things can become drawings, then maybe drawings can become living things.” He shuddered. “Chloe's real dad is dead, but not the one who visits her in her nightmares. That dad seems very real. That's the dad she's drawn and he's a heartbeat away from crashing into this world.”   
Looking down, Trish muttered. “She always got the worst of it when he was alive.”   
“Doctor, how can a twelve year old girl be doing any of this?” Rose asked, glancing up at the ceiling as she did so.  
He shrugged. “Let's find out.” 

Knocking twice, the Doctor didn’t wait for a response before leading the way into Chloe’s bedroom. She was sat cross legged on her bed, and at the sight of him showed the same gesture that he’d demonstrated a short while ago.   
“Nice one.” He grinned, before resting two fingers on her temples and settling her gently back against the covers. “There we go.”   
Trish stood with Rose in the doorway. “I can't let him do this”   
“Shush, it's okay. Trust him.”   
As Eris joined her dad next to Chloe, he started to speak again.  
“Now we can talk.”  
The voice that answered wasn’t Chloe’s - it was little more than a harsh whisper.   
“I want Chloe. Wake her up. I want Chloe.”   
“Who are you?”   
“I want Chloe Webber.”   
Trish started to sob. “What've you done to my little girl?”   
“I'm speaking to you, the entity that is using this human child. I request parley in compliance with the Shadow Proclamation.”   
The thing inside Chloe spat. “I don't care about shadows or parleys.”   
Eris’ interrogation tactic was to keep her voice as calm and friendly as possible.  
“So what do you care about?”   
“I want my friends.”   
“You're lonely, I know. Identify yourself, please.”   
“I am one of many. I travel with my brothers and sisters. We take an endless journey. A thousand of your lifetimes. But now I am alone. I hate it. It's not fair, and I hate it.”   
The Doctor snapped, losing his temper a little. “Name yourself!”   
“Isolus.” 

There was a pause, and he sat back a little, calming himself.   
“You're Isolus. Of course.”   
Chloe picked up a pencil and began to draw quickly on a piece of paper next to her.  
“Our journey began in the Deep Realms when we were a family.”   
Craning her neck to look at the image, Trish frowned. It was some sort of flower.   
“What's that?”   
The Doctor watched the girl’s hand speed across the page.   
“The Isolus Mother, drifting in deep space. See, she jettisons millions of fledgling spores. Her children. The Isolus are empathic beings of intense emotions, but when they're cast off from their mother, their empathic link, their need for each other, is what sustains them. They need to be together. They cannot be alone.”  
“Our journey is long.”   
“The Isolus children travel, each inside a pod. They ride the heat and energy of solar tides. It takes thousands and thousands of years for them to grow up.”   
Rose couldn’t help but feel sorry for the alien.  
“Thousands of years just floating through space. Poor things. Don't they go mad with boredom?”   
Chloe shrugged. “We play.”   
“You play?”   
The Doctor understood. “While they travel, they play games. They use their ionic power to literally create make-believe worlds in which to play.”   
Eris smiled. “In flight entertainment.”   
“Helps keep them happy. While they're happy, they can feed off each others love. Without it, they're lost. Why did you come to Earth?”   
This time, the voice was a little angrier, and it started a new drawing - this one of a glowing ball.  
“We were too close.”   
“That's a solar flare from your sun. Would have made a tidal wave of solar energy that scattered the Isolus pods.”   
“Only I fell to Earth. My brothers and sisters are left up there, and I cannot reach them. So alone.”  
“Your pod crashed. Where is it?”   
“My pod was drawn to heat, and I was drawn to Chloe Webber. She was like me, alone. She needed me, and I her.”   
Eris reached down to hold Chloe’s hand.   
“You empathised with her. You wanted to be with her because she was alone like you.”   
“I want my family. It's not fair.”   
The Doctor nodded. “I understand. You want to make a family. But you can't stay in this child. It's wrong. You can't steal any more friends for yourself.”   
“I am alone.”   
A sudden crash from the wardrobe startled them all, and a red glow shone underneath the doors. Chloe started to shake. The voice of a man started to snarl.   
“I'm coming to hurt you. I'm coming.”   
The Doctor stood.   
“Trish, how do you calm her?”   
“What?” She hadn’t been expecting the question.   
“When she has nightmares, what do you do?”   
“I, I-”  
“What do you do?”   
“I sing to her.”   
“Then start singing.”   
The picture of Chloe’s dad growled again. “Chloe, I'm coming.”   
Trish sat by her daughter’s side, singing softly.   
“Kookaburra sits in the old gum tree. Merry, merry king of the bush is he-”  
“Chloe. Chloe. Chloe. Chloe.”   
“Laugh, Kookaburra, laugh, Kookaburra, gay your life must be. Laugh, Kookaburra, laugh, Kookaburra, gay your life must be.”   
Another voice joined hers as she started the little rhyme again. A soft, low alto that seemed to wrap around the two of them like a blanket. She glanced up to see Eris, standing in front of the wardrobe, singing the familiar words with them.   
Finally, the voice from the wardrobe became silent, and Chloe’s tremors stopped. Trish pulled her daughter into a hug, not noticing the Doctor do the same to Eris.   
“He came to her because she was lonely. Chloe, I'm sorry.” 

Down in the living room, they had managed to get all the pencils that they could find in Chloe’s room and hide them, just in case she felt the urge to draw again once she woke up.   
Trish was a little less weepy than she had been a few minutes ago, but was still clearly upset.  
“Chloe usually got the brunt of his temper when he'd had a drink. The day he crashed the car, I thought we were free. I thought it was over.”   
Rose gave her a sympathetic smile. “Did you talk to her about it?”   
“I didn't want to.”   
Eris rested a hand on the woman’s shoulder.   
“Have you considered that maybe that's why Chloe feels so alone? Because she has all these terrible dreams about her dad, but she feels like she can't talk to you about them.”   
Leaning against the wall, the Doctor looked like he had something on his mind.   
“Her and the Isolus. Two lonely kids who need each other.”   
“And it won't stop, will it, Doctor? It'll just keep pulling kids in.” Rose joined him.   
“It's desperate to be loved. It's used to having a pretty big family.”   
“How big?”   
“Say around four billion?”   
The silence that followed was almost deafening. 

Leaving Trish with instructions to keep an eye on her daughter, the three of them left the house and headed back to the Tardis. The Doctor explained his plan.   
“We need that pod.”   
“It crashed. Won't it be destroyed?” Rose wondered.   
“Well, it's been sucking in all the heat it can. Hopefully that should keep it in a fit state to launch. It must be close. It should have a weak energy signature that the Tardis can trace. Once we find it, then we can stop the Isolus.”   
Eris frowned. “How can we trace it though? We don’t know what sort of signal it’ll be giving off.”   
“We can scan for the same trace that I picked up from the scribble creature. We'd need to widen the field a bit.”   
They reached the Tardis and slipped inside, none of them realising that Chloe had followed them there and was watching from behind a nearby fence. 

Rose watched as the Doctor started constructing some kind of gadget, helped every now and then by a hand from Eris as she passed bits of circuitry up from underneath the Tardis console.   
“You knew the Isolus was lonely before it told you. How?”   
He shrugged. “I know what it's like to travel a long way on your own. Give me the styner-magnetic... The thing in your left hand.”   
She passed it over. “Sounds like you're on its side.”   
“I sympathise, that's all.”   
“The Isolus has caused a lot of pain for these people.”   
“It's a child. That's why it went to Chloe. Two lonely mixed up kids.”   
She snorted. “Feels to me like a temper tantrum because it can't get its own way.”   
Wriggling her way out from under the console, Eris raised an eyebrow at her.  
“It's scared. Come on, you were a kid once.”   
The Doctor agreed, before nodding at Rose’s hand. “Binary dot.”   
“Yes, and I know what kids can be like. Right little... terrors.”   
“Gum.”   
“Dad, that’s disgusting.” Eris wrinkled her nose up as the Doctor squished Rose’s used chewing gum into the top of the device.   
Rose kept talking. “I've got cousins. Kids can't have it all their own way. That's part of being a family.”   
“What about trying to understand them?”   
“Easy for you to say. You don't have kids. Well, actual kids - Eris doesn’t count.”   
The brunette huffed jokingly. “Oh, thanks.”   
The Doctor commented absentmindedly, “I was a dad once.”   
Rose’s jaw dropped.   
“What did you say?”   
Ignoring her second question, he checked the finished gizmo over, turning it this way and that.   
“I think we're there. Fear, loneliness. They're the big ones, Rose. Some of the most terrible acts ever committed have been inspired by them. We're not dealing with something that wants to conquer or destroy. There's a lot of things you need to get across this universe. Warp drive, wormhole refractors. You know the thing you need most of all? You need a hand to hold.”   
He looked up to see Rose holding her hand out to him, and he took it, grinning. She directed his hand to the scanner with a laugh.   
“No, Look, I'm pointing.”   
“It's the pod! It is in the street. Everything's coming up Doctor.”   
The three of them left the Tardis, Rose taking the lead as Eris told her what to look for.   
“Okay. It's about two inches across. Dull grey, like a gull's egg. Very light.”   
“So these pods, they travel from sun to sun using heat, yeah? So it's not all about love and stuff. Doesn't the pod just need heat?”   
Behind her there was a crash, and Rose turned to see the smashed gadget on the ground - and no sign of the Doctor, Eris, or the Tardis.   
“Doctor? Doctor!”   
Realising what had happened, she broke into a run. 

Making it back to the Webber house, Rose pounded on the door and didn’t even stop to let Trish open it completely before shoving her way past. As she ran up the stairs, she ignored Trish’s shout.   
“It's okay. I've taken all the pencils off her.”  
Rose burst through the girl’s bedroom door and snatched the piece of paper she was using from her hands, almost sobbing at the sight of the Doctor and Eris on the page. The quality of the drawing was excellent, as all of Chloe’s drawings were.   
Chloe’s voice was once again the whispered snarl of the Isolus.   
“Leave me alone. I want to be with Chloe Webber. I love Chloe Webber.”   
“Bring him back, now.”  
“No.”  
Rose’s voice was practically a shriek now.   
“Don't you realise what you've done? He was the only one who could help you. Now bring him back!”   
“Leave me alone! I love Chloe Webber!”  
She took a deep breath, and calmed herself down. It would do no good to frighten the poor girl too much - it was hardly her fault.   
“I know. I know. Doctor, if you can hear me, I'm going to get you out of there. I'll find the pod.” She turned to Trish where she stood in the doorway of her daughter’s bedroom. “Don't leave her alone, no matter what.”

Out in the street, Rose was looking this way and that, trying to find anything that might be relevant. “Heat. They travel on heat.” She muttered to herself, before overhearing Kel congratulating himself on his handiwork.   
“Look at this finish. Smooth as a baby's bottom. Not a bump or a lump.”   
She ran to join him. “Kel, was there anything in this street in the last few days giving off a lot of heat?”   
“I mean, you can eat your dinner off this. Beautiful. So you tell me why the other one's got a lump in it when I gave it the same love and craftsmanship as I did this one.”   
“Well, when you've worked it out, put it in a big book about tarmacking, but before you do that, think back six days.”   
“Six days. When I was laying this the first time round.”   
“What?”   
“Well, that's when I filled in this pothole for the first time.”   
“Six days ago.”   
“Yeah.”   
Her mind was racing. “Hot fresh tar.”   
Kel nodded, not really noticing as Rose started walking towards his van.  
“Blended to a secret council recipe.” Finally, as she yanked the doors open, he realised what she was up to. “I don't keep it in the van! Hey, that's a council van. Out.”   
Rose grabbed a pickaxe from the back and adjusted to the weight of it in her hands.   
“Whoa, wait, wait, wait. You just removed a council axe from a council van. Put it back. No, don't, wait. Put the axe back in the van. That's my van. Give me the axe. No! Wait! No!”   
But it was too late - Rose had already run for the pothole that he’d pointed to moments ago and was hacking at the tarmac.   
“No! You, stop! You just took a council axe from a council van and now you're digging up a council road! I'm reporting you to the council!”   
Kneeling, she searched through the lumps with her hands until she found a small greyish brown object, egg shaped and flecked with blue.   
“It went for the hottest thing in the street. Your tar.”   
“What is it?”  
“It's a spaceship. Not a council spaceship, I'm afraid.” 

She burst back into the living room with a grin on her face.   
“I've found it! I don't know what to do with it, but maybe the Isolus will just hop on board.” The grin faded as she saw Trish standing in front of the television. “Hang on, I told you not to leave her.”   
The woman simply pointed at the screen as the reporter sounded completely confused.   
“My God! Er, what's going on here?”   
Kel stomped into the room, shooting a glare at Rose.  
“I don't care if you've got Snow White and the Seven Dwarves buried under there, you don't go digging up-”  
“Shut up and look!” She cut him off.  
“The crowd has vanished! Er, they're gone. Everyone has gone. Thousands of people have just gone. Right in front of my eyes. It's impossible. Bob, can we join you in the box? Bob? Not you too, Bob?”   
Rose groaned. “The stadium won't be enough. The Isolus has four billion brothers and sisters.”   
Now feeling a little uneasy, Kel frowned.   
“If it’s the people, then where’s this thing gonna get four billion people from?”   
Before he’d finished speaking, Rose’s heart dropped.   
“The planet.” 

Sprinting up the stairs, closely followed by Trish and Kel, Rose stopped outside Chloe’s bedroom door and started hammering at it.   
“Chloe? Chloe, it's Rose! Open the door!”   
Inside, they could hear the sound of furious scribbling, mized with a low rumbling sound that Rose didn’t like the sound of at all.   
“We found your ship. We can send you home.”   
“Chloe?” Trish struggled at the door, arms straining. “The lock on her door’s broken, why won’t it open?”   
Remembering that she still had the pickaxe, Rose ushered Trish backwards.   
“Right, stand back.” 

As she smashed the door in, that rumbling noise became audible as a deep, male voice. The same voice that had come from the wardrobe earlier.   
“I'm coming to hurt you. I'm coming, coming to hurt you.”   
Rose tried to get the girl’s attention. “Chloe!”   
“I'm coming to hurt you. I'm coming.”   
“I've got to stop her.”   
Chloe turned to look at her.   
“If you stop Chloe Webber, I will let him out. We will let him out together. I cannot be alone. It's not fair.”   
“Look, I've got your pod.”   
“The pod is dead.”   
“It only needs heat.”   
“It needs more than heat.”   
“What, then?”  
Suddenly, Kel yelped in shock and backed away from the desk.  
“I'm not being funny or nothing, but that picture just moved. And that one!”  
Rose turned to look down, and picked up the drawing of the Doctor and Eris. But something had changed. Eris was now holding a small egg shaped object that was obviously the pod, and the Doctor was pointing to a slightly wonky drawing of the Olympic torch.   
“She didn't draw that, he did. But it needs more than heat, Doctor.”   
Something on the news caught her ear.   
“-Is still on its way. I suppose it's much more than a torch now, it's a beacon. It's a beacon of hope and fortitude and courage. And it's a beacon of love.”   
“Love.” She breathed. “I know how to charge up the pod!”

Running out into the street and shoving people out of her way, she managed to make her way through to the front of the crowd. She would have got even nearer to her target, but a policeman stopped her in her tracks.   
“Sorry, you'll have to watch from here.”   
“No, I've got to get closer.”   
“No way.”  
“I can stop this from happening!” 

Chloe was almost finished - the countries were messily coloured in green, and she’d made a start on the ocean surrounding them. Next to her, the wardrobe rattled threateningly.   
“Chloe.”   
Trish sobbed, hands over her mouth. “Chloe, please.”   
“I'm coming to hurt you.”  
“She's my baby! You're not going to hurt her again!”   
“I'm coming.” 

Taking a chance as the runner passed by, Rose pulled her arm back and threw the pod as forcefully as she could. Her face split into a grin as it landed perfectly in the top of the torch, sending up a small jet of flame and making the bearer stagger a little as it did so. She could’nt help but cheer.   
“Yes!” 

Suddenly, Chloe froze, seconds away from finishing the drawing. The Isolus inside her was elated.   
“I can go home. Goodbye, Chloe Webber. I love you.”   
And the tiny white flower that had caused so much heartache to the residents of Dame Kelly Holmes Close floated gently away, sailing through the open window. Chloe blinked for a moment, looking slightly dizzy, before turning.   
“Mum?”   
Trish’s tears were joyous, this time. “I'm here.”   
“Mummy!” 

“You did it! What was it you did?” Kel reached Rose’s side, still looking baffled.   
All along the close, the children from the missing posters ran towards their parents, being met with hugs and tears. But there were two people who hadn’t made an appearance.   
“Eris… Doctor.” Rose’s heart sank as the moments passed. The old woman they’d met earlier in the day approached her and took both her hands, smiling tearily.   
“I don't know who you are, or what you did, but thank you, darling! And thank that man for me too.”   
As she walked away, Rose was hit with an unpleasant thought.   
“Where is he? He should be here. Hold on. All the drawings have come to life. That means all of them... Oh, no.”   
She looked up, just in time to see a harsh red light fill Chloe’s bedroom, and ran for the front door. 

Before she could get inside the house, the door slammed shut.   
“Trish, get out!”   
Trish and Chloe were tugging at the door as Rose pushed from the outside.   
“I can't! The door's stuck!”   
“Is the Doctor in there?”   
“I don't think so.”   
Chloe turned to look up the stairs, and whimpered. “Mummy.”   
A low, growling voice was getting closer and closer.  
“Chloe, I'm coming to hurt you.”   
“Please, dad. No more.”  
“Chloe.”  
Rose shouted through the letterbox.  
“Chloe, listen to me. It isn't real like the others. It's just energy left over by the Isolus, but you can get rid of it.”   
Trish was panicking too much to listen. “Help us!”   
“Oh, it's because you're so scared that he's real. But you can get shot of him, Chloe.”  
“Mummy!”  
“You can do it, Chloe!”  
“I can't!”   
The voice seemed even louder. “Chloe, I'm coming.”  
“I can't! I can't!”  
“I'm coming.”  
“I can't.”  
“I'm coming.”   
“Mummy.” Chloe’s voice was almost a whisper by now.   
“Chloe.”   
Holding her daughter tightly, Trish made a promise.  
“I'm with you, Chloe. You're not alone. You'll never be alone again.”   
Thinking quickly, Rose came up with a plan that might just work.  
“Sing again! Chloe, sing!”   
This time it sounded like he was just at the top of the stairs.   
“Chloe. Chloe. Chloe. Chloe. Chloe, I'm coming to hurt you. Chloe!”   
With shaky voices that soon grew louder and more steady, Trish and Chloe began to sing.   
“-merry merry king of the bush is he. Laugh, Kookaburra, laugh, Kookaburra, gay your life must be. Laugh, Kookaburra, laugh, Kookaburra, gay your life must be.”   
Above, the red glow of the drawing faded, before vanishing altogether.   
“Kookaburra sits in the old gum tree. Merry merry king of the bush is he. Laugh, Kookaburra, laugh, Kookaburra, gay your life must be.” 

Kel, hands in pockets, walked up to Rose where she sat on the doorstep. She was visibly upset. He helped her off the floor and offered her what he hoped was a reassuring smile.   
“Maybe they’ve gone somewhere.”   
It didn’t seem to help.   
“Who's going to hold his hand now?”  
As Rose and Kel walked into the Webber family’s living room, the bemused voice of the reporter played.   
“Just look at this! Utterly incredible scenes at the Olympic stadium. Eighty thousand athletes and spectators. They disappeared, they've come back! They've returned. They've reappeared. It's quite incredible. Bob, this will certainly…”   
She sniffled a little, before jumping as a hand landed on her shoulder. The familiar smell of her best friend’s perfume wrapped around her at the same time as her arms did, and she relaxed.   
“You’re okay!”   
Eris kissed the side of her head, still hugging her.   
“Yep, always. Any sign of him yet?”   
“I thought he’d be with you!”   
She shook her head, but there was a slight glimmer in her eye that Rose didn’t quite notice.   
Rose scrunched her nose up.  
“Eighty thousand people, so where's the Doctor? I need him.”   
The reporter’s voice became clear again.  
“But hang on, the torch bearer seems to be in a bit of trouble. We did see a flash of lightning earlier that seemed to strike him. Maybe he's injured. He's definitely in trouble.”   
And the torch bearer dropped to the ground, breathing heavily.   
“Does this mean that the Olympic dream is dead?”   
Almost from nowhere, an arm in a brown suit reached down and picked up the torch. The camera panned back to reveal-  
“Doctor!” Rose gasped, watching with a smile as he ran towards the Olympic cauldron.   
“There's a mystery man. He's picked up the flame. We've no idea who he is. He's carrying the flame. Yes, he's carrying the flame and no one wants to stop him. It's more than a flame now, Bob. It's more than heat and light. It's hope, and it's courage, and it's love.”   
The spotlight followed him as he sprinted up the red carpet, whooping with joy as he lit the gas and watched the flame blossom.   
“Go on. Join your brothers and sisters. They'll be waiting.” He whispered to the pod, watching as it shot upwards into the darkness of the sky. 

Not too long later, he was strolling back down Dame Kelly Holmes Close, looking around in satisfaction at the people celebrating around him. It was always nice to see the results of their hard work. As he walked, a voice behind him made him stop and grin.   
“Cake?”   
It was Rose, standing with a small cake in her hand. As he got closer, he could see tiny silver balls on top.   
“Top banana. Mmm. I can't stress this enough. Ball bearings you can eat, masterpiece!”   
While he shoved the cake into his mouth, Eris strolled up to them, grinning.   
“I made sure Trish and Chloe are ok - they’re a bit shaken up, but they seem to be alright. I think they’ll cope.”   
Smiling fondly, Rose hugged her.   
“I didn’t get the chance to say it, but I thought I'd lost you. Both of you.”   
The Doctor slung an arm around each of them.  
“Nah. Not on a night like this. This is a night for lost things being found. Come on.”   
“What now?”  
“I want to go to the Games. It's what we came for.”   
“Go on, give us a clue. Which events do we do well in?”   
He raised an eyebrow. “Well, I will tell you this. Papua New Guinea surprises everyone in the shot put.”   
Rose pulled a face. “Really? You're joking, aren't you? Doctor, are you serious or are you joking?”   
“Wait and see.”   
The fireworks display started up, throwing the sky into a glittering haze, and Eris leant against her dad’s shoulder.   
Rose smiled across at the two of them.   
“You know what? They keep on trying to split us up, but they never ever will.”  
His smile dropped slightly. “Never say never ever.”   
“Nah, we'll always be okay, you and me. Don't you reckon, Doctor?”  
He paused for a moment.  
“There's something in the air. Something coming.”   
The tone of his voice made Eris frown, and she blinked up at him.   
“What is it?”   
He sighed, gazing up into the night.   
“A storm's approaching.”


	13. Army of Ghosts

The Tardis landed in a corner of a children’s playground - not the most interesting place they’d ever landed, but Rose was delighted to see it nonetheless. She led the way out of the ship, wearing a rucksack that was probably the same size as a small child.   
“Come on, you two. Hurry up!”   
Groaning mockingly, her friends followed, smiling as they stepped out into the sunshine. Eris rolled her eyes as she locked the door behind them.   
“Alright, give us a chance!”  
Even with the extra weight on her back, Rose kept up her quick pace all the way to her flat, leaving her friends trailing behind. She burst through the front door almost a full minute before they caught up with her, and couldn’t help but grin.   
“Mum, it's us! We're back!”   
Jackie poked her head around the kitchen door, and rushed forwards with an irritated smile.   
“Oh, I don't know why you bother with that phone. You never use it!”   
“Shut up, come here!”   
“Oh, I love you!”   
“I love you!”   
“I love you so much!”   
They were still hugging as Eris and the Doctor shuffled into the hallway. Jackie let go of Rose to give Eris a quick squeeze, before laughing as the Doctor tried to wriggle past them into the living room.   
“Oh no, you don't. Come here!”   
Despite his protestations and every effort he made to escape, the Doctor was no match for Jackie Tyler. She grabbed him, pulled him down, and planted sloppy kisses all across his mouth and cheeks.   
“Oh, you lovely big fella! Oh, you're all mine.”   
He grimaced. “Just, just, just put me down!”   
“Yes, you are.”   
They were both vaguely aware of a slight wheezing noise coming from their left, and turned. Eris was leaning heavily against the wall, a hand pressed to her chest, shaking with almost silent laughter - and Rose looked like she was holding back a similar response. Trying to hold it together, she slid her rucksack off her shoulders and passed it over.   
“I've got loads of washing for you. And I got you this.”   
Fumbling in a jacket pocket, she dug a delicate looking metal ornament out and pressed into her mum’s free hand.   
“It's from the market on this asteroid bazaar. It's made of, er, what's it called?”   
The Doctor nodded, knowing the word she was looking for. “Bazoolium.”   
“Bazoolium. When it gets cold, yeah, it means it's going to rain. When it's hot, it's going to be sunny. You can use it to tell the weather.”   
Jackie didn’t really seem to be listening. “I've got a surprise for you and all.”   
Rose rolled her eyes mockingly.   
“Oh, I get her bazoolium, she doesn't even say thanks.”   
“Guess who's coming to visit? You're just in time. He'll be here at ten past. Who do you think it is?”   
“I don't know.”   
As Jackie tried to get Rose to play a guessing game of sorts, the Doctor glared at Eris.   
“Don’t ever let me suffer like that again.”   
She snorted, recovering from the fit of laughter that had struck her and punching him in the arm.   
“No promises.”   
Getting bored of Rose’s complaints, Jackie caved.   
“It's your grandad. Grandad Prentice. He's on his way any minute, Right, cup of tea!”   
And with a grin, she headed back into the kitchen, leaving Rose standing there dumbfounded in the hallway.   
“She's gone mad.”   
The Doctor huffed,still wiping at his cheeks.   
“Tell me something new.”   
She shook her head.   
“Granddad Prentice, that's her dad. But he died, like, ten years ago. Oh, my God. She's lost it. Mum?” 

Rose led the others into the kitchen, watching her mum cautiously. Jackie seemed to be perfectly happy, putting the kettle on and opening a packet of biscuits.   
“Any second now.”   
“But he passed away. His heart gave out. Do you remember that?”   
“Of course I do.”   
“Then how can he come back?”   
Jackie glanced down at her watch. “Why don't you ask him yourself? Ten past. Here he comes.”   
On cue, the kitchen wall rippled slightly, and a silvery grey humanoid figure stepped through, stopping next to Jackie. It was tall and stocky, completely featureless. Just an outline of a person.   
“Here we are, then. Dad, say hello to Rose. Ain't she grown?” 

Alarmed, the Doctor, Eris and Rose ran out of the block of flats and out onto the street below.   
“They're everywhere!”   
They looked around. There must have been thirty or forty of them in the square, and the rest of the people outside seemed completely unfazed by their appearance. People were waving to them, smiling. A small group of boys playing football expanded their circle to allow a ghost to join in. Rose gasped as one of the shapes approached the Doctor from behind.   
“Doctor, look out!”   
Too late - the shape walked through him! The Doctor grimaced, shuddering at the unpleasant sensation it caused.   
Jackie joined them.   
“They haven't got long. Midday shift only lasts a couple of minutes. They're about to fade.”  
The Doctor frowned. “What do you mean, shift? Since when did ghosts have shifts? Since when did shifts have ghosts? What's going on?”   
“Oh, he's not happy when I know more than him, is he?”   
Eris was slightly calmer than her dad. “But no one's running or screaming or freaking out. That’s what I don’t understand.”   
Jackie shrugged. “Why should we? Here we go. Twelve minutes past.”   
And they watched as the ghosts faded, vanishing completely. Like they had never been there at all. 

Back up in the flat, the Doctor had commandeered the television and was flicking through the channels, amazed at what he saw. There was a program called Ghostwatch,   
“On today's Ghostwatch, claims that some of the ghosts are starting to talk, and there seems to be a regular formation gathering around Westminster Bridge. It's almost like a military display.”   
He murmured, “What the hell's going on?”   
Then a weather report - although nothing like any weather report he’d ever seen before.   
“And tonight we're expecting very strong ghosts from London, through the North and up into Scotland.”   
The next one was some kind of talk show.   
“So basically, Eileen, what you're telling me is, that you are in love with a ghost.”   
“He's my ghost, and I love him twenty four seven!” A woman cried out.   
Next was an interview with a man called Derek Acorah, who was some sort of psychic medium, according to the name banner. He looked irritated.   
“Well, no one needs me anymore!”   
And an advert.   
“My ghost was pale and grey until I discovered Ectoshine!”   
Then there was a series of international newsreaders - from France, India, Japan.   
Eris pulled a face. “How is that possible?”   
“It's all over the world.” The Doctor breathed.   
Pulling the remote out of his hands, Eris picked the next channel; Eastenders popped up, showing a very irate Peggy.   
“Listen to me, Den Watts. I don't care if you have come back from the grave. Get out of my pub! The only spirits I'm serving in this place are gin, whisky and vodka. So, you heard me. Get out!”   
The Doctor turned the telly off again, and turned to look at Jackie.   
“When did it start?”   
She nodded, misunderstanding. “Well, first of all, Peggy heard this noise in the cellar, so she goes down-”  
“No, I mean worldwide.”  
She blushed a little. “Oh. That was about two months ago. Just happened. Woke up one morning, and there they all were. Ghosts, everywhere. We all ran round screaming and that. Whole planet was panicking. No sign of you, thank you very much.”   
Eris looked a little sheepish. “Sorry, that was my fault. I got in a bit of a fight with the Tardis and she got all stroppy, dumped us on Anagonia for a few weeks. And then we got stuck dealing with - oh, never mind. Go on.”   
“Well, then it sort of sank in. It took us time to realise that we're lucky.”   
Rose chewed at her lip.   
“What makes you think it's granddad?”   
“It just feels like him. There's that smell, those old cigarettes. Can't you smell it?”   
“I wish I could, mum, but I can't.”   
“You've got to make an effort. You've got to want it, sweetheart.”   
The Doctor hummed thoughtfully. “The more you want it, the stronger it gets.”   
“Sort of, yeah.”   
“Like a psychic link. Of course you want your old dad to be alive, but you're wishing him into existence. The ghosts are using that to pull themselves in.”   
Jackie’s tone became bitter.   
“You're spoiling it.”   
“I'm sorry, Jackie, but there's no smell, there's no cigarettes. Just a memory.”   
There was a moment of very awkward silence. Eris thought aloud.   
“But if they're not ghosts, what are they?”   
Arms crossed, Jackie huffed.   
“Yeah, but they're human! You can see them. They look human.”   
Rose nodded. “She's got a point. I mean, they're all sort of blurred, but they're definitely people.”   
The Doctor shook his head, tapping the sonic screwdriver against his knee.   
“Maybe not. They're pressing themselves into the surface of the world. But a footprint doesn't look like a boot.” 

They’d all gone back to the Tardis. Jackie chose to wait outside while the Doctor and the girls went looking for whatever he needed.   
“According to the paper, they've elected a ghost as MP for Leeds. Now don't tell me you're going to sit back and do nothing.” Rose threw the paper onto the nearest chair as she called down through the hole underneath the console. Eris and the Doctor had pulled up a bit of the grating and descended, chattering about bits of equipment that made no sense to her whatsoever.   
His head popped up, and he couldn’t resist putting on a silly voice as he wielded a device that looked a little like a megaphone.   
“Who you gonna call?”   
Rose grinned. “Ghostbusters!”   
“I ain't afraid of no ghosts.”   
He got to his feet and held a hand out to Eris, helping her up. Between the two of them, they had a heavy-looking backpack, a length of electrical cable that looped several times around Eris’ neck like a scarf, and a set of three greyish objects shaped like traffic cones.   
“Ready?”   
“Ready.” 

Out in the playground, the two of them set up a triangle with the three cones, connecting them with thin wires and leading the larger cable back to the console.   
“When's the next shift?” Eris asked Jackie, shaking her hand slightly as a wire sparked and burnt her fingers.   
“Quarter to. But don't go causing trouble. What's that lot do?”   
The Doctor explained. “Triangulates their point of origin.”  
Thinking for a moment, Rose had an idea. “I don't suppose it's the Gelth?”   
“Nah. They were just coming through one little rift. This lot are transposing themselves over the whole planet. Like tracing paper.”   
Jackie was getting more annoyed with him by the second.   
“You're always doing this. Reducing it to science. Why can't it be real? Just think of it, though. All the people we've lost. Our families are coming back home. Don't you think it's beautiful?”   
He looked up, grim faced.   
“I think it's horrific. Rose, give us a hand.” 

Eris set up the scanner while the Doctor taught Rose what to do with the sonic screwdriver. Finally inside the ship, Jackie watched from a slight distance.   
“As soon as the cones activate, if that line goes into the red, press that button there. If it doesn't stop, setting fifteen B. Hold it against the port, eight seconds and stop.”   
She nodded. “Fifteen B, eight seconds.”  
“If it goes into the blue, activate the deep scan on the left.”   
“Hang on a minute, I know. Push that one.”   
He pulled a face. “Close.”   
She pointed at the one next to it. “That one?”   
Eris craned her neck to see which one she was pointing at, and sniggered.   
“Now you've just killed us.”   
Blushing, Rose tried again. “Er, that one.”   
“Yeah! Now, what've we got? Two minutes to go?”   
The Doctor grinned, and dragged Eris back out of the Tardis to finish the set up. A few seconds passed, and he called back inside.   
“What's the line doing?”   
Rose shouted back. “It's alright. It's holding!”   
Jackie sighed.   
“You even look like him.”   
“How do you mean?” Then she thought for a moment. “I suppose I do, yeah.” She liked that.   
“You've changed so much.”   
“For the better.”  
“I suppose.”   
Rose rolled her eyes. “Mum, I used to work in a shop.”  
Jackie sounded slightly stung. “I've worked in shops. What's wrong with that?”   
Her daughter winced, backtracking. “No, I didn't mean that.”   
“I know what you meant. What happens when I'm gone?”   
“Don't talk like that.”   
“No, but really. When I'm dead and buried, you won't have any reason to come back home. What happens then?”   
“I don't know.”   
“Do you think you'll ever settle down?”   
Never taking her eyes off the scanner, Rose shrugged.   
“The Doctor never will, so I can't. I'll just keep on travelling.”   
Jackie felt her heart twinge painfully.   
“And you'll keep on changing. And in forty years time, fifty, there'll be this woman, this strange woman, walking through the marketplace on some planet a billion miles from Earth. But she's not Rose Tyler. Not anymore. She's not even human.”   
Before Rose could come up with an answer, Eris shouted from outside.   
“Here we go!”   
Grateful for the interruption, she called back. “The scanner's working. It says delta one six.” 

Outside, the Doctor grinned at the electrified space inside the triangle.  
“Come on then, you beauty!”   
One of the ghosts appeared, seeming calm to begin with but becoming more agitated as it realised that it was trapped.   
“Don't like that much, do you? Who are you? Where are you coming from? Whoa!”   
It had made an attempt to lash out at them, and the Doctor had instinctively shouldered his way in front of Eris. Behind him, the girl smirked.   
“That's more like it! Not so friendly now, are you?”   
As she taunted, it faded away, and the Doctor ran forwards to scoop up the equipment before running back to the Tardis.   
“I said so! Those ghosts have been forced into existence from one specific point, and I can track down the source. Allons-y!”   
He set the dematerialisation process going, and whirled on the spot, grinning.   
“I like that. Allons-y. I should say allons-y more often. Allons-y. Watch out, Rose Tyler. Allons-y. And then, it would be really brilliant if I met someone called Alonso, because then I could say, allons-y, Alonso, every time. You're staring at me.”   
Rose had indeed been staring at him, standing there with one eyebrow raised and an amused look on her face.   
“My mum's still on board.”   
He froze, glancing up. Jackie was sat on the edge of one of the walkways, arms crossed.   
“If we end up on Mars, I'm going to kill you.” 

Eris cackled with laughter as her dad tried to speed up the landing as much as he physically could, avoiding eye contact with Jackie the whole time. It was quite possibly the funniest thing she’d witnessed in decades, her centuries-old dad quaking in fear in front of an infuriated Jackie. Upon materialisation, it was obvious that there was a significant issue. The image on the scanner showed that they were surrounded by armed troops.   
The Doctor sighed.   
“Oh well, there goes the advantage of surprise. Still, cuts to the chase.” He pointed warningly at Rose. “Stay in here, look after Jackie.”   
“I'm not looking after my mum.”   
“Well, you brought her.”   
Jackie protested, getting up as the Doctor and Eris moved towards the doors.   
“I was kidnapped!”  
Rose ignored her. “Doctor, they've got guns.”   
He grinned. “And we haven't. Which makes me the better person, don't you think? They can shoot us dead - well, deadish anyway - but the moral high ground is mine.”   
And without any more talk, he opened the door and slipped through, holding it open just long enough for Eris to accompany him before closing it again. 

The two of them raised their hands in a lazy salute as the soldiers adjusted their grips on their guns. From the back of the room came the sound of high heels on the cement, and shortly a blonde woman came into view, a wide smile plastered across her face.   
“Oh! Oh, how marvellous. Oh, very good. Superb. Happy day.”   
She began to clap, and after a few seconds the soldiers joined in too. The Doctor and Eris exchanged slightly confused looks before lowering their hands.   
“Er, thanks. Nice to meet you. I'm the Doctor, and this is Eris.”  
“Oh, I should say. Hurray!”   
He was getting more confused by the second.   
“You, you've heard of me, then?”  
“Well of course we have. And I have to say, if it wasn't for you, none of us would be here. The Doctor, Eris and the Tardis.”   
There was more applause, and Eris did her best to ignore it - it was going to give her a headache soon.   
“And you are?”   
The woman brushed off her question.   
“Oh, plenty of time for that. But according to the records, you're not one for travelling alone. The Doctor and his companion. That's a pattern, isn't it, right? There's no point hiding anything. Not from us. So where is she?”   
Noticing the slight change of tone, the bolt of steel that now ran through the woman’s voice, the Doctor decided to play along.   
“Yes. Sorry. Good point. She's just a bit shy, that's all.”   
He nudged the door open a tiny bit, and wrapped a hand around the first wrist he could feel - before pulling Jackie Tyler into the loading bay.   
“But here she is, Rose Tyler.” He looked her up and down, pulling a face. “Hmm. She's not the best I've ever had. Bit too blonde. Not too steady on her pins. A lot of that.” He mimed a talking gesture with his free hand. “And just last week, she stared into the heart of the Time Vortex and aged fifty seven years. But she'll do.”   
Jackie gasped, offended. “I'm forty!”   
The Doctor seemed unbothered by her interjection.   
“Deluded. Bless. I'll have to trade her in. Do you need anyone? She's very good at tea. Well, I say very good, I mean not bad. Well, I say not bad. Anyway, lead on. Allons-y. But not too fast. Her ankle's going.”   
As the soldiers filed out of the room and the woman directed them towards a door on the right, Jackie hissed at him angrily.  
“I'll show you where my ankle's going.”   
Once again, Eris had to smother a snort. 

The woman led them to the doors of what was probably a warehouse, and paused for a moment.   
“It was only a matter of time until you found us, and at last you've made it. I'd like to welcome you, Doctor. Welcome to Torchwood.”   
And she threw the doors open.   
The space it revealed was truly phenomenal - the largest warehouse on Earth that the visitors had ever seen. Of course, the Doctor and Eris had seen far vaster spaces on their travels, but there was something about this place that just felt different to all of the others. It was large enough that there were Jeeps and trucks driving back and forth, transporting goods from one side to the other. The floor was covered in crates, stacked all the way up to the ceiling in some places. There were narrow walkways and wider roads set out, but the rest of the floorspace was obscured by the boxes. Around fifty metres from the door, suspended from the ceiling, was a large saucer shaped spaceship. A crew of Torchwood workers bustled around it, looking like ants in comparison.   
The Doctor frowned up at it.   
“That's a Jathar Sunglider.”   
“Came down to Earth off the Shetland Islands ten years ago.” The woman nodded.   
Eris felt an odd weight settle in the bottom of her stomach.   
“Did it crash?”   
Her response was cold, apathetic. “No, we shot it down. It violated our airspace. Then we stripped it bare. The weapon that destroyed the Sycorax on Christmas Day? That was us. Now, if you'd like to come with me. The Torchwood Institute has a motto. If it's alien, it's ours. Anything that comes from the sky, we strip it down and we use it for the good of the British Empire.”   
Jackie pulled a face.   
“For the good of the what?”   
“The British Empire.”   
“There isn't a British Empire.”   
“Not yet. Ah, excuse me. Now, if you wouldn't mind.”   
She had addressed a nearby soldier, who passed her a very large gun.   
“Do you recognise this, Doctor?”   
He ran a hand over the weapon, a little alarmed.   
“That's a particle gun.”   
“Good, isn't it? Took us eight years to get it to work.”   
“It's the twenty-first century. You can't have particle guns.”   
“We must defend our border against the alien. Thank you, Sebastian, isn't it?”   
The young man nodded.   
“Yes, Ma'am.”   
“Thank you, Sebastian. I think it's very important to know everyone by name. Torchwood is a very modern organisation. People skills. That's what it's all about these days. I'm a people person.”   
Thinking for a moment, the Doctor couldn’t resist asking -   
“Have you got anyone called Alonso?”   
The woman noticed the sharp jab that Eris landed in his ribs, but ignored it.   
“No, I don't think so. Is that important?”   
He sighed. “No, I suppose not. What was your name?”   
She smiled. “Yvonne. Yvonne Hartman.”   
A piece of technology close by caught his attention, and he picked it up - a big black stool-shaped object with a handle on top and a couple of buttons.   
“What are these?”   
“Ah, yes. Now, we're rather fond of these. The Magnaclamp. Found in a spaceship buried at the base of Mount Snowdon. Attach this to an object and it cancels the mass. I could use it to lift two tonnes of weight with a single hand. That's an imperial ton, by the way. Torchwood refuses to go metric.”   
Jackie snorted. “I could do with that to carry the shopping.”   
As Eris grinned at her, Yvonne rolled her eyes.   
“All these devices are for Torchwood's benefit, not the general public's.”   
The girls exchanged exasperated looks as the Doctor continued.   
“So, what about these ghosts?”   
“Ah yes, the ghosts. They're er what you might call a side effect.”   
“Of what?”  
“All in good time, Doctor. There is an itinerary, trust me.”   
A truck drove past them, carrying a very familiar cargo. Jackie gasped at the sight of the Tardis.   
“Oi! Where are you taking that?”   
Yvonne’s smile was sickly sweet.   
“If it's alien, it's ours.”   
The Doctor sighed. “You'll never get inside it.”   
“Hmm! Et cetera.”  
As Yvonne turned away, Rose peeked out through the doors. The Doctor and Eris both nodded at her, and she slipped back inside. 

Walking down a corridor, the Doctor shoved his hands in his jacket pockets and looked down at the petite woman.   
“All those times I've been on Earth, I've never heard of you.”  
“But of course not. You're the enemy. You're actually named in the Torchwood Foundation Charter of 1879 as an enemy of the Crown.”   
Eris made a sound of realisation. “1879. That was called Torchwood, that house in Scotland.”   
He remembered. “Oh, of course!”   
Yvonne concurred. “That's right. Where you encountered Queen Victoria and the werewolf.”   
Between them, Jackie scoffed.   
“I think he makes half of it up.”   
“Her Majesty created the Torchwood Institute with the express intention of keeping Britain great, and fighting the alien horde.”  
“But if I'm the enemy, does that mean that I'm a prisoner?”   
“Oh yes. But we'll make you perfectly comfortable. And there is so much you can teach us. Starting with this.” 

Yvonne led the three of them down to a room that was only accessible by using a keycard. The door opened, and she gestured towards the unmissable object at the end of the space.   
“Now, what do you make of that?”   
A scientist approached them, looking eager.   
“You must be the Doctor. And Miss Eris, of course. Rajesh Singh. It's an honour, sir.”   
Neither of them were really listening, Eris simply nodding and the Doctor mumbling,  
“Yeah.”   
Their attention was drawn by a gargantuan sphere that hung in the air at the other end of the room. It was a bronzey gold colour, and didn’t seem to be either two dimensional or three dimensional. Looking at it was rather unnerving. Next to Yvonne, Jackie frowned.   
“What is that thing?”   
“We’ve got no idea.”  
“But what's wrong with it?”   
Rajesh glanced over at her. “What makes you think there's something wrong with it?”   
She pulled a face. “I don't know. It just feels weird.”   
As Eris and the Doctor got closer to it, Yvonne nodded.   
“Well, the sphere has that effect on everyone. Makes you want to run and hide, like it's forbidden.”  
Rajesh gestured to the desks covered in mechanical clutter.   
“We tried analysing it using every device imaginable. But according to our instruments, the sphere doesn't exist. It weighs nothing, it doesn't age. No heat, no radiation, and has no atomic mass.”   
Jackie didn’t quite understand. “But I can see it.”   
“Fascinating, isn't it? It upsets people because it gives off nothing. It is absent.”   
Yvonne looked over to see the Doctor and Eris by the sphere. The Doctor was wearing - for some reason - a pair of paper 3D glasses, like the kind you used to get in cinemas as a kid, and he was staring pensievely up at the thing. Next to him, Eris had turned her back on it and was looking a little nauseous.   
“Well, Doctor?” Yvonne called over.   
He turned to face her, taking the glasses off and sitting on the stairs that led up to it.  
“This is a Void Ship.”  
“And what is that?”   
“Well, it's impossible for starters. I always thought it was just a theory, but it's a vessel designed to exist outside time and space, travelling through the Void.”   
Rajesh moved closer, dying for more information.   
“And what's the Void?”   
The Doctor tucked an arm around Eris’ shoulders, a little worried to feel her shaking.  
“The space between dimensions. There's all sorts of realities around us, different dimensions, billions of parallel universes all stacked up against each other. The Void is the space in between, containing absolutely nothing. Imagine that. Nothing. No light, no dark, no up, no down, no life, no time. Without end. My people called it the Void. The Eternals call it the Howling. But some people call it Hell.”   
“But someone built the sphere. What for? Why go there?”   
Eris sighed. “To explore? To escape? You could sit inside that thing and eternity would pass you by. The Big Bang, end of the Universe, start of the next, wouldn't even touch the sides. You'd exist outside the whole of creation.”   
Yvonne sounded jubilant.   
“You see, we were right. There is something inside it.”   
The Doctor nodded. “Oh, yes.”   
“So how do we get in there?” Rajesh wondered.   
Getting to his feet, the Doctor pulled Eris up with him.   
“We don't! We send that thing back into Hell. How did it get here in the first place?”  
Still keeping her distance from the sphere, Yvonne shrugged.   
“Well, that's how it all started. The sphere came through into this world, and the ghosts followed in its wake.”   
“Show us.”   
He started to walk out of the room, but Eris grabbed his arm.   
“I’ll stay here for a while, if that’s alright with everyone. I want to acclimatise a bit. And I might be able to help with the equipment trouble.”   
She looked over at Yvonne for approval, and the woman nodded.   
“Well, I suppose any help is better than none. See what you can do.”   
The Doctor looked her over briefly, not entirely convinced that his daughter was telling the truth.  
“Are you sure you’re okay?”   
She nodded. “I’m fine, I promise. It just makes me uneasy. But you know me - if I don’t understand something, I have to figure it out.”   
He nodded, and she flashed him a bright smile before walking off to get to work on a nearby computer. He decided to leave her to it, and walked purposefully out of the lab and turned left, only to hear-   
“No, Doctor.” From Yvonne.   
A little embarrassed, he turned on the spot and followed the corridor to the right instead, aware of Jackie and the others trying to catch up with him. 

Eventually, they made it up to the Lever room. Yvonne pointed towards the large, blank white wall at the far end.   
“The sphere came through here. A hole in the world. Not active at the moment, but when we fire particle engines at that exact spot, the breech opens up.”   
He marched up to the wall and ran a hand over it, tapping in a few odd places.   
“How did you even find it?”   
“We were getting warning signs for years. A radar black spot. So we built this place, Torchwood Tower. The breach was six hundred foot above sea level. It was the only way to reach it.”   
The Doctor glanced back at her.   
“You built a skyscraper just to reach a spatial disturbance? How much money have you got?”   
“Enough.” She smirked.   
Jackie was looking out of one of the windows near the desks, realisation dawning.   
“Hold on a minute. We're in Canary Wharf. Must be. This building, it's Canary Wharf.”   
Yvonne nodded. “Well, that is the public name for it. But to those in the know, it's Torchwood.”   
The Doctor sighed.   
“So, you find the breach, probe it, the sphere comes through six hundred feet above London, bam. It leaves a hole in the fabric of reality. And that hole, you think, oh, shall we leave it alone? Shall we back off? Shall we play it safe? Nah, you think let's make it bigger!”   
She rolled her eyes at him.   
“It's a massive source of energy. If we can harness that power, we need never depend on the Middle East again. Britain will become truly independent. Look, you can see for yourself. Next Ghost Shift's in two minutes.” 

“Cancel it.” He pleaded.   
“I don't think so.”   
“I'm warning you, cancel it.”   
Yvonne scoffed. “Oh, exactly as the legends would have it. The Doctor, lording it over us. Assuming alien authority over the Rights of Man.”   
“Let me show you. Sphere comes through.”   
He walked over to the glass window that split up the operational area from Yvonne’s office. Pointing the sonic screwdriver at one of the o’s in ‘Torchwood’, he made it crack a little.   
“But when it made the hole, it cracked the world around it. The entire surface of this dimension splintered. And that's how the ghosts get through. That's how they get everywhere. They're bleeding through the fault lines. Walking from their world, across the Void, and into yours, with the human race hoping and wishing and helping them along. But too many ghosts, and…”  
He tapped ever so gently on the glass, and it shattered completely.   
There was a moment of silence on the floor, and then Yvonne shrugged.   
“Well, in that case we'll have to be more careful. Positions! Ghost Shift in one minute.”   
“Miss Hartman, I am asking you, please don't do it.”   
“We have done this a thousand times.”   
He groaned. “Then stop at a thousand!”   
“We're in control of the ghosts. The levers can open the breach, but equally they can close it.” 

And all of a sudden, his attitude changed entirely.   
“Okay.”   
He walked back into Yvonne’s office, picked up one of the black leather chairs she kept in there, and brought it back out into the operational space. Then, he sat down. She looked at him, baffled.   
“Sorry?”   
“Never mind. As you were.”   
“What, is that it?”   
“No, fair enough. Said my bit. Don't mind me. Any chance of a cup of tea?”   
From the desks, the woman called, “Ghost Shift in twenty seconds.”   
The Doctor grinned wildly. “Mmm, can't wait to see it.”   
Now looking a little uneasy, Yvonne shook her head.   
“You can't stop us, Doctor.”   
“No, absolutely not. Pull up a chair, Rose. Come and watch the fireworks.”   
Jackie came away from the window and stood behind him, resting a hand on his shoulder as the two of them looked smugly at Yvonne. Behind her, the countdown was still going.   
“Ghost Shift in ten seconds. Nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two-”   
“Stop the shift. I said stop.” Yvonne ordered, and the systems powered down.   
The Doctor sounded serious again. “Thank you.”   
“I suppose it makes sense to get as much intelligence as possible. But the programme will recommence, as soon as you've explained everything.”   
He shrugged. “I'm glad to be of help.”   
“And someone clear up this glass. They did warn me, Doctor. They said you like to make a mess.” 

Rose crept out of the Tardis, being careful not to be spotted by any of the scientists in the area. Closing the door firmly behind her, she snatched up a spare lab coat that was hanging over the back of a railing. She tucked the psychic paper that she’d pinched from the Doctor’s trench coat into one of the pockets. Taking a subtle look at a sign on the nearest wall and, liking the look of the ‘Sphere Room’, she followed the arrow. She watched from around a corner as another scientist in a white coat scanned a pass on a reader beside the door and accessed the room. Giving it a few moments, she traced his footsteps and scanned the psychic paper, holding back a grin as it worked. The door opened, and she stepped into the lab. Immediately, her eyes locked onto the colossal sphere hanging at the far end of the room and she walked towards it, transfixed. Rajesh noticed, and stopped her before she could get too close.   
“Can I help you?”   
“I was just-”  
“Try not to look. It does that to everyone.”   
Eris joined them, and offered a hand. “Nice to meet you, I’m Eris Stewart. General scientific help, et cetera et cetera. Do you work up on this level?”   
Seeing what she was doing, Rose played along with it.  
“Nah, I’m a few floors down. Nice to meet you too.”   
Rajesh looked between the two of them for a moment, before asking.   
“What do you want?”   
“Sorry. They sent me from personnel. They said some man had been taken prisoner. Some sort of Doctor? I'm just checking the lines of communication. Did they tell you anything?”   
He squinted a little. “Can I see your authorisation?”   
“Sure.”   
She passed him the psychic paper and he smiled.   
“That's lucky. You see, everyone at Torchwood has at least a basic level of psychic training. This paper is blank, and you're a fake. Seal the room. Call security. Samuel, can you check the door locks? She just walked right in.”   
The man he had called Samuel turned around - and Mickey Smith shot Rose a quick thumbs up.   
“Doing it now, sir.”   
As Eris walked back to the computers on the pretense of continuing the sphere analysis, she pulled Mickey into a fierce hug.   
“Hello you.”   
“Hi there. It’s been a while.”   
“How did you end up here?”   
Before he could answer Rajesh turned to lead Rose back to his desk and they jumped apart, Mickey heading for the doors like planned and Eris leaning over a piece of equipment. Thankfully he didn’t notice a thing. 

Up in Yvonne’s office, the Doctor and Jackie were sitting on the other side of her desk as she started asking questions.   
“So these ghosts, whatever they are, did they build the sphere?”   
He shrugged. “Must have. Aimed it at this dimension like a cannonball.”   
On the screen in front of Yvonne, Rajesh’s voice crackled through.   
“Yvonne? I think you should see this. We've got a visitor. We don't know who she is, but funnily enough, she arrived at the same time as the Doctor.”   
She turned the laptop to show them Rose and Rajesh on the webcam - Rose looking a little sheepish, Rajesh rather smug.   
“She one of yours?” Yvonne already seemed to know the answer.   
Doing his best to keep a neutral expression, the Doctor simply replied,  
“Never seen her before in my life.”   
“Good. Then we can have her shot.”   
Jackie jumped slightly, and the Doctor gave up.   
“Oh, all right then. It was worth a try. That's, that's Rose Tyler.”   
On the screen, Rose waved.   
“Sorry. Hello.”   
Yvonne raised her eyebrows.   
“Well, if that's Rose Tyler, who's she?”   
Jackie’s face morphed into a slight sneer.  
“I'm her mother.”   
“Oh, you travel with her mother?”   
“He kidnapped me!”   
The Doctor ran a hand over his face.  
“Please, when Torchwood comes to write my complete history, don't tell people I travelled through time and space with her mother.”   
There was a slight clunk from the next room, but they ignored it.   
Jackie thumped him in the arm. “Charming.”   
“I've got a reputation to uphold.” 

Distracted by movement next door, Yvonne got up.   
“Excuse me? Everyone? I thought I said stop the ghost shift. Who started the programme? But I ordered you to stop! Who's doing that?”   
The levers were moving by themselves, and three of the four desks behind them were occupied.   
“Right, step away from the monitors, everyone. Gareth, Addy, stop what you're doing, right now. Matt, step away from your desk. That's an order! Stop the levers! Andrew!”   
A scientist ran to one of the levers and tried to push it back, to little avail.   
“Stop the levers!”   
However, the Doctor was far more interested in the actions of the girl at the desk.   
“What's she doing?”   
Yvonne noticed, and tried to pull her back from the keyboard.   
“Addy, step away from the desk. Listen to me. Step away from the desk.”   
The Doctor shook his head, examining the silvery-grey earpieces she was wearing.   
“She can't hear you. They're overriding the system. We're going into Ghost Shift. It's the ear piece. It's controlling them. I've seen this before. Sorry. I'm so sorry.”   
Raising the sonic screwdriver and taking a deep breath, he zapped the ear piece. She screamed, clutching at her head, and collapsed. On the other side of the room, the men did the same.   
Yvonne rounded on him.   
“What happened? What did you just do?”   
“They're dead.”   
Jackie looked horrified.   
“You killed them.”   
“Oh, someone else did that long before I got here.”   
“But you killed them!”   
“Jackie, I haven't got time for this.”   
Curious, Yvonne reached out to touch one of Adeola’s ear pieces.   
“What are those ear pieces?”   
“Don't.” He warned.   
“But they're standard comms. devices. How does it control them?”   
“Trust me, leave them alone.”   
“But what are they?”   
She pulled the earpiece, and it detached from the girl’s ear with a wet slurping sound. A trail of long, slimy brain matter hung from it, and Yvonne threw it to the ground in disgust.   
“Urgh! Oh, God! It goes inside their brain.”   
The Doctor hunched over one of the computers, trying to make sense of the data on the displays.  
“What about the Ghost Shift?”   
“Ninety percent there and still running. Can't you stop it?”   
“They're still controlling it. They've hi-jacked the system.”  
“Who's they?”  
Finding a signal he could follow, he ran for the doors.  
“It might be a remote transmitter but it's got to be close by. I can trace it. Jackie, stay here!”  
Yvonne ran after him, shouting instructions back to her employees.  
“Keep those levers down. Keep them offline.” 

“Yvonne, I thought you said the next Ghost Shift was cancelled. What's going on? Yvonne?”   
Suddenly, a loud bang from above and then a growing rumble. Rajesh gasped, before going back to the comms again as the others stood and stared.   
“It can't be. It's active!”   
He tried to get the link to work, but even with Eris’ help, nothing seemed to be getting through.   
“We've got a problem down here. Yvonne, can you hear me? Yvonne, for God's sake. The sphere is active! The readings are going wild! It's got weight, it's got mass, an electromagnetic field. It exists!”   
Around them, the doors settled with a loud clunk.   
“The door's sealed. Automatic quarantine. We can't get out!”   
Mickey put an arm around Rose’s shoulders.   
“It's all right, babe. We've beaten them before, we can beat them again. That's why I'm here. The fight goes on.”   
She frowned. “The fight against what?”   
He glanced up at the sphere.  
“What do you think?”

The Doctor tracked the signal he’d picked up with the sonic screwdriver, leading Yvonne this way and that through the maze of corridors. They passed two armed soldiers going in the opposite direction, and Yvonne stopped them.   
“You two. You come with us.”   
“Yes, ma'am.”   
A few corridors down, they stopped outside a construction area.   
“What's down here?” The Doctor tried to peer through the plastic sheeting.  
Yvonne shrugged.  
“I don't, I don't know. I think it's building work. It's just renovations.”   
“You should go back.”   
“Think again.” And she pushed forwards, giving the Doctor no choice but to follow her.   
“What is it? What's down here?”   
With every step, the Doctor felt his hearts sinking.   
“Ear pieces, ear pods. This world's colliding with another, and I think I know which one.”   
Tall, dark shapes appeared behind the plastic sheets around them.   
“What are they?”  
“They came through first. The advance guard.”   
The plastic sheets were ripped through by metal hands, in a gesture the Doctor was sure he’d seen before, and the figures stepped through.   
“Cybermen!” 

The sphere was getting more active by the second. Mickey gave Rose and Eris a quick rundown of everything that had been going on in the parallel world.   
“We had them beaten, but then they escaped. The Cybermen just vanished. They found a way through to this world, but so did we.”   
Rose shook her head. “The Doctor said that was impossible.”   
Mickey snorted. “Yeah, it's not the first time he's been wrong.”   
“What's inside that sphere?”   
“No one knows. Cyber Leader, Cyber King, Emperor of the Cybermen. Whatever it is, he's dead meat.”   
Next to them, Eris felt a little uneasy but tried not to show it - she didn’t want to panic the others.   
“It could be anything in there.”   
All she knew for sure was that the sphere looked nothing like Cyber technology.   
Rose grinned.   
“It's good to see you.”   
Her smile was contagious, and Mickey returned it.  
“Yeah. It's good to see you too.” 

A troop of Cybermen escorted the Doctor and Yvonne back up to the top of the building. The first thing they did was shoot the scientists holding back the levers that controlled the ghost shifts. The Doctor held out a warning hand to the others.   
“Get away from the machines. Do what they say. Don't fight them!”   
Jackie cringed back as soon as they came close.   
“What are they?”   
The Cybermen beat him to it.   
“We are the Cybermen. The Ghost Shift will be increased to one hundred percent.”   
Automatically, the levers moved into their usual position, and the familiar shadowy figures appeared again.   
“Here come the ghosts.” He muttered.   
Jackie stared out of the window, aghast at the sight before her.  
“But these Cybermen, what've they got to do with the ghosts?”   
The Doctor groaned.   
“Do you never listen? A footprint doesn't look like a boot.”   
The Cyberleader stepped up between the Doctor and Yvonne.   
“Achieving full transfer.”   
Together they watched as the ghosts grew a little brighter, a little more defined, until the same silvery mechanical shape took their place. Every single one of them.   
“They're Cybermen. All of the ghosts are Cybermen. Millions of them, right across the world.”   
Yvonne gasped. “They're invading the whole planet.”   
He shook his head. “It's not an invasion. It's too late for that. It's a victory.” 

As the sphere shook violently, Mickey darted forwards and grabbed a huge gun from underneath the platform.   
“I know what's in there, and I'm ready for them. I've got just the thing. This is going to blast them to Hell.”   
Rajesh looked stunned. “Samuel, what are you doing?”   
“The name's Mickey. Mickey Smith. Defending the Earth.”   
And he cocked the gun. 

Up in the control room, the Doctor glared at the Cyberleader.   
“But I don't understand. The Cybermen don't have the technology to build a Void Ship. That's way beyond you. How did you create that sphere?”   
“The sphere is not ours.”   
“What?”   
“The sphere broke down the barriers between worlds. We only followed. Its origin is unknown.”   
He felt a sudden jolt of worry. “Then what's inside it?”   
Next to him, Jackie put a hand on his arm.   
“Rose is down there.” 

Above them, the sphere slid open in segments, glowing with a harsh white light. The four of them stood in a line, watching. Slowly, figures began to rise from within - and Eris felt her heart stop in her chest. Four squat, pepperpot shaped creatures were coming into view. Mickey frowned.   
“That's not Cybermen.”   
“Oh, my God.” Rose breathed.   
Moving forwards, Eris locked her eyes on the shapes above.   
“Get behind me.”   
One of the four Daleks was black, and it seemed to be the one in charge.   
“Location, Earth. Life forms detected. Exterminate!”   
The others flanked it, and chanted in response.   
“Exterminate! Exterminate! Exterminate!”


	14. Doomsday

The Daleks touched down, trundling imposingly across the metal floor of the lab to the four people they had for company. As always, they fell back on their typical response.   
“Exterminate! Exterminate! Exterminate!”   
Eris, still shielding the others, hissed over her shoulder.   
“Tell them you know them! It might only keep us alive for the next five minutes but it’s better than nothing!” She raised her voice. “Alright then, Daleks! What do you want?”  
Rose backed her up.   
“You're called Daleks. I know your name, we know your name. Think about it - how can I know that? A group of humans who know about the Daleks and the Time War. If you want to know how, then keep us alive. That's all I'm asking. Me and my friends.”   
Mickey nodded. “Yeah, Daleks. Time War. Me too.”   
A little confused, Rajesh decided to just go along with it.  
“Yeah. And me.”   
The black Dalek, the obvious leader, stopped. It observed them for a moment, before turning to the bronze one on it’s left.   
“You will be necessary. Report. What is the status of the Genesis Ark?”   
And now the four people in the room could see what the Daleks had been concealing - a coppery bronze, Dalek shaped case with softly glowing orbs embedded in the facets.   
“Status, hibernation.”  
“Commence awakening. The Genesis Ark must be protected above all else.”   
As their focus turned to the Ark, Mickey grabbed Rose’s arm.”  
“The Daleks. You said they were all dead.”  
“They were.” Eris replied grimly, not taking her eyes off the creatures.   
Rose shook her head. “Never mind that. What the hell's a Genesis Ark?” 

In Yvonne’s office, Jackie rounded on the Doctor.   
“What's down there? She was in that room with the sphere. What's happened to Rose?”  
He tried to keep his voice calm, though his hearts were filled with worry over his girls.  
“I don't know. I'll find her. I brought you here, I'll get you both out, you and your daughter. Jackie, look at me. Look at me. I promise you. I give you my word.”   
They both took a few deep breaths and managed to relax a little as the Cyberleader addressed Yvonne.   
“You will talk to your central world authority and order global surrender.”  
She snorted derisively. “Oh, do some research. We haven't got a central world authority.”  
“You have now. I will speak on all global wavelengths. This broadcast is for human kind.”   
There was a slight crackle, and then a hum as the Cyberleader patched into every single channel, every radio station, everything that used sound waves for function, and began to speak.   
“Cybermen now occupy every land mass on this planet, but you need not fear. Cybermen will remove fear. Cybermen will remove sex and class and colour and creed. You will become identical. You will become like us.”   
Within minutes, it was clear that this news had not been taken well. Fires were visible all over London, and a haze of smoke was gradually thickening above. The Cyberleader and the Doctor watched.   
“I ordered surrender.”  
“They're not taking instructions. Don't you understand?” He snapped. “You're on every street, you're in their homes, you've got their children! Of course they're going to fight.” 

The black Dalek turned it’s headpiece to observe the four hostages.   
“Which of you is least important?”  
“What's that supposed to mean?” Rose pulled a face.   
“Which of you is least important?”  
Eris took a step closer. “No, we don't work like that. None of us.”   
“Designate the least important!”   
“And what if we refuse?” She shouted back.   
Rajesh lowered the arm that separated him from the Daleks, and moved to stand level with her.   
“This is my responsibility.”   
“Don’t do this. It won’t end well for you.”   
He ignored her, and approached the Daleks.   
“I… I represent the Torchwood Institute. Anything you need, you come through me. Leave these three alone.”   
“You will kneel.”  
“What for?”  
The Dalek repeated itself. “Kneel.The Daleks need information about current Earth history.”  
Rajesh shrugged, surprisingly calm as he did as they ordered. “Yeah, well, I can give you a certain amount of intelligence but nothing that will compromise Homeland security.”  
“Speech is not necessary. We will extract brainwaves.”   
The plungers of the three bronze Daleks extended, and Eris gestured to Rose and Mickey to look away.   
“Don't I- I'll tell you everything you need. No. No!”   
His pleads gave way to screams that echoed in the chamber. 

A chirruping sound came from one of the computers in the lever room, and the Cyberleader turned to one of its soldiers.   
“Scans detect unknown technology active within the Sphere chamber.”  
“Cybermen will investigate.”  
“Units ten six five and ten six six will investigate the Sphere chamber.”  
“We obey.” 

The dry, desiccated corpse that had been Rajesh mere moments earlier dropped to the floor, and Eris put an arm around both Rose and Mickey. Naturally, the Daleks didn’t care.  
“His mind spoke of a second species invading Earth, allowed to happen due to the superstition of ghosts.”  
“You didn't need to kill him!” Eris spat.   
“Neither did we need him alive. Dalek Thay, investigate outside.”  
“I obey.”   
As they watched the Dalek leave, Eris frowned.   
“Thay? Since when have the Daleks had names?” 

Notified of the movement, the Cyberleader commanded.   
“Units open visual link.”   
And the view opened up on Yvonne’s laptop, so far showing an empty corridor.   
“Visual contact established.” 

In the sphere lab, the black Dalek gave the same order.   
“Establish visual contact. Lower communications barrier.”  
A large viewscreen appeared in front of the sphere, showing the view of the Dalek as it wheeled around the corner and came face to face with the Cyberman.   
“Identify yourselves.”   
And then, the tennis-match debate began.   
“You will identify first.” The Cyberman stated.   
“State your identity.”  
“You will identify first.”  
“Identify!”   
Watching the exchange, Mickey snorted. “It's like Stephen Hawking meets the Speaking Clock.” 

It was still going.   
“That answer is illogical. You will modify.”  
“Daleks do not take orders.”  
“You have identified as Daleks.”   
“Outline resembles the inferior species known as Cybermen.”

In the office, Jackie’s heart sank, and she whispered to the Doctor.   
“Rose said about the Daleks. She was terrified of them. What have they done to her, Doctor? Is she dead?”   
He muttered back. “Phone.”  
“What?”  
“Phone!”  
As he dialed, the Cyberman continued.  
“We followed in the wake of your sphere.”

The Daleks were scanning their opponent’s technologies.  
“Long range scans confirm the presence of crude cybernetic constructs on worldwide scale.”   
Rose felt her phone buzz in her pocket, and seeing the name on the screen, hit the answer button.   
The Doctor listened in, straining to distinguish the background noise of the sphere room from the sound coming from the laptop feed.   
“She's answered. She's alive. Why haven't they killed her?”   
Jackie sighed in relief. “Well, don't complain!”  
“They must need her for something.” 

Unaware of their eavesdropper, the Daleks continued.  
“We must protect the Genesis Ark.”  
“The Genesis Ark?” The Doctor mumbled, hearing Eris say the same thing on the other end of the line - for his benefit, in case the connection dropped.   
The Cyberman in the corridor kept talking.  
“Our species are similar, though your design is inelegant.”   
The Doctor watched the screen, once again wearing the 3D glasses, as the Dalek spoke in a way that was almost mocking.   
“Daleks have no concept of elegance.”  
“This is obvious. But consider, our technologies are compatible. Cybermen plus Daleks. Together, we could upgrade the Universe.”   
“You propose an alliance?”  
“This is correct.”   
The Doctor felt his hearts stop at the thought - each species was bad enough by itself, but together… he didn’t want to imagine it.   
“Request denied.”   
In return, the Cybermen readied their weapons.   
“Hostile elements will be deleted.”   
“Exterminate!”  
The Dalek came out victorious, leaving a smouldering wreckage of metal at the other end of the corridor. 

The Cyberleader spoke to its subordinates. “Open visual link.” And then, it addressed the Daleks. “Daleks, be warned. You have declared war upon the Cybermen.”   
The black Dalek replied. “This is not war. This is pest control.”  
“We have five million Cybermen. How many are you?”  
“Four.”  
“You would destroy the Cybermen with four Daleks?”  
“We would destroy the Cybermen with one Dalek.”   
“You are superior in only one respect.”  
“What is that?”   
“You are better at dying. Raise communications barrier!”   
In the lab, the screen froze blurrily - but one of the Daleks had spotted something.   
“Wait! Rewind image by nine rels. Identify grid seven gamma frame 9.” This shot was clearer, and showed a very familiar face. “This male registers as an enemy.”   
The black Dalek swung about.   
“The female's heartbeat has increased.”   
Mickey rolled his eyes. “Yeah, tell me about it.”  
“Identify him.”   
Rose sighed. “Alright, then. If you really want to know, that's the Doctor.”  
Eris cackled as the Daleks rolled back a considerable distance.   
“Five million Cybermen, easy. One Doctor? Now you're really scared. And you should be” 

The Cyberleader turned on the spot, pointing towards the Doctor, Jackie and Yvonne.   
“Quarantine the Sphere chamber. Start emergency upgrading. Begin with these personnel.”  
Yvonne gasped in pain as she was grabbed. “No, you can't do this! We surrendered! We surrendered!”  
But before the Doctor could also be seized, the Cyberleader changed it’s mind.   
“This one. His increased adrenaline suggests that he has vital Dalek information.”   
Jackie was sobbing as she and Yvonne were dragged away.   
“Stop them! I don't want to go! You promised me! You gave me your word!”  
“I demand you leave that woman alone! I won't help you if you hurt her. Jackie, don't fight. I'll think of something.” His words were of little comfort to her as she was pulled from the room. 

The victorious Dalek returned from the messy parlay, almost sounding smug.   
“Cyber threat irrelevant. Concentrate on the Genesis Ark.” .   
Mickey stared at it.   
“Why are we being kept alive?”  
Rose frowned.   
“They might need me.”   
Eris chewed at her lip, thinking,   
“They might need all of us.”  
“What? What is it?” 

In the disused area of the building, behind the thick sheets of plastic, sparks flew and people could be heard screaming. Jackie was getting more anxious by the second.   
“What happens in there? What's upgrading mean? What do they do?”   
Yvonne was visibly shaking.   
“I think they remove the brain. Sorry. I think they remove the brain and they put it in a suit of armour. That's what these things are. They're us.”   
As one of the Cybermen stepped forwards and grabbed Yvonne’s arm, Jackie pointed at her accusingly.   
“This is your fault. You and your Torchwood. You've killed us all!”   
All she could do was sob.   
“I did my duty for Queen and Country. I did my duty. I did my duty. Oh, God. I did my duty.”   
And then it was Jackie’s turn. She was dragged towards the conversion area, kicking and screaming.  
“No! No!”   
When, seemingly from nowhere, a second Cyberman appeared, stopping her captor in it’s tracks.   
“CyberLeader One has been terminated.”  
“Explain. Download shared files.”  
“I will be upgraded to CyberLeader.”  
Seeing a chance to escape, Jackie backed away, slowly at first so as not to draw their attention. And then, when she thought it was safe, she broke into a run, heading for the stairwell. 

The Doctor watched, stony faced, as the Cybermen worked their way through the streets of London below. The Cyberleader took a few large strides and joined him.   
“You are proof.”  
“Of what?”  
“That emotions destroy you.”  
“Yeah, I am.” An odd prickling feeling ran up his spine, and he felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand up. A feeling he typically associated with a nearby teleport activation.  
“Mind you, I quite like hope. Hope's a good emotion. And by the look of it, here it comes.”  
Out in the lever room, a group of black-clad commando-style soldiers carrying fierce guns popped into existence. They swiftly took out the remaining Cybermen in the room, landing an expert shot on the Cyberleader and exploding it’s head.   
One of the group walked towards the Doctor, and pulled off his helmet to reveal a shock of platinum blonde hair and a wide grin.   
“Doctor? Good to see you again.”  
His jaw dropped. “Jake?”  
“The Cybermen came through from one world to another, and so did we.”

Fumbling in a pocket, the Doctor found his 3D glasses again and watched the others as Jake ordered them about.   
“Defend this room. Chrissie, monitor communications. Kill one CyberLeader and they just download into another. Move!”   
He took the glasses off again and confronted Jake.   
“You can't just, just, just hop from one world to another. You can't.”   
“We just did. With these.”   
The boy tossed a large yellow medallion to the Doctor.   
“But that's impossible. You can't have this sort of technology.”   
“We've got our own version of Torchwood. They developed it. Do you want to come and see?”   
And before the Doctor could protest, Jake had hit the button he was wearing and they vanished in a flash of light. 

The Parallel Torchwood was, of course, identical to the one that they had been standing in a few milliseconds earlier - apart from one thing. This Torchwood had been obliterated. Instead of the clinical white of the original, everything here was a dusty grey; it clearly hadn’t been used in months. Maybe longer. The floor was strewn with rubble and wiring. Jake spread his arms wide.   
“Parallel Earth, parallel Torchwood. Except we found out what the Institute was doing and the People's Republic took control.”   
The Doctor shook his head. “I've got to get back. My daughter is in danger. Rose is in danger, and so is her mother.”   
“That'd be Jackie.” A voice from the darkness. A shadow in a corner. Pete Tyler stepped out into the light, smart and a little ominous in a dark suit. “My wife in a parallel universe. And as for you, Doctor, at least this time I know who you are.”   
He rolled his eyes, not exactly enjoying this reunion.   
“Right, yes, fine, hooray. But I've got to get back, right now.”  
“No, you're not in charge here. This is our world, not yours. And you're going to listen for once.” 

As the Daleks fussed over their device, Eris kept an eye on them while Rose and Mickey talked.   
“I could transport out of here, but it only carries one and I'm not leaving either of you behind.”  
Rose sighed. “You'd follow me anywhere. What did I do to you all those years ago?”  
“Guess I'm just stupid.”  
“You're the bravest man I've ever met.”  
“What about the Doctor?”  
“Oh, all right. Bravest human.”   
Overhearing this, Eris snorted and turned to them.  
“Mickey, trust me. You’re far braver than the Doctor is - and I speak from centuries of experience.”   
Grinning, he continued.   
“Well, I can't think what the Daleks need with me. I'm nothing to them.”   
Rose was deep in thought.   
“You could be. Whatever's inside that Ark is waking up.”   
“But what’s that got to do with me?”   
Eris put the pieces together. “Rose, do you remember Van Statten’s museum?”   
She nodded, and gasped as she realised.   
“The first time I saw a Dalek, it was broken. It was dying. But I touched it. The moment I did that, I brought it back to life. As the Doctor said, when you travel in time in the Tardis, you soak up all this background radiation. It's harmless. It's just there. But in the Time War, the Daleks evolved so they could use it as a power supply.”   
Mickey smirked.   
“I love it when you talk technical.”  
“Shut up. If the Daleks have got something inside that thing, and it needs waking up.”  
“They need you.”   
Eris shrugged.   
“I’ve travelled in time, you've travelled in time. Any one of us would do.”   
That didn’t make much sense to Mickey.  
“But why would they build something they can't open themselves?”   
As the black Dalek approached them, Eris lowered her voice.   
“I don’t think they did.”   
It’s next words confirmed her theory.   
“The technology is stolen. The Ark is not of Dalek design.”   
“Then who built it?”  
“The Time Lords. This is all that survives from their Home World.”  
Rose didn’t like the sound of that.   
“What's inside?”   
The answer she got made her even more uneasy.   
“The future.” 

The parallel Torchwood was already derelict. Dark, dirty, with wires hanging from the ceiling and debris all over the floor. Pete stood with his arms crossed, an intimidating figure in the dark.   
“When you left this world, you warned us there'd be more Cybermen. So we sealed them inside the factories.”  
Jake nodded. “Except people argued. Said they were living. That we should help them.”  
“And the debate went on. But all that time, the Cybermen made plans. Infiltrated this version of Torchwood, mapped themselves onto your world, and then vanished.”   
The Doctor frowned. “When was this?”  
“Three years ago.”  
“It's taken them three years to cross the void, but we can pop to and fro in a second. Must be the sheer mass of five million Cybermen crossing all at once.”  
Pete huffed out a laugh. “Yeah, Mickey said you'd rattle off that sort of stuff.”   
“Oh, where is the Mickey boy?”   
“He went ahead first. Said he had a feeling you’d be involved. Any chance to go and find Miss Rose Tyler.”  
“She's your daughter. You do know that? Did Mickey explain?”  
“She's not mine. She's the child of a dead man. Look at it, a world of peace. They're calling this The Golden Age.”  
The Doctor craned to look out of the window. “Who's the President now?”  
Pete shrugged. “A woman called Harriet Jones.”  
“Oof. I'd keep an eye on her.”   
“But it's a lie. Temperatures have risen by two degrees in the past six months. The ice caps are melting. They're saying all this is going to be flooded. That's not just global warming, is it?”  
“No.”  
“It's the breach.”  
The Doctor sighed, fed up with human idiocy yet again.   
“I've been trying to tell you. Travel between parallel worlds is impossible. Then the Daleks break down the walls with a Sphere.”  
“Daleks?”   
Ignoring him, the Doctor carried on. “then the Cybermen travelled across, then you lot. Those discs. Every time you jump from one reality to another, you rip a hole in the universe. This planet is starting to boil. Keep going and both worlds will fall into the Void.”   
Pete looked him dead in the eyes.   
“But you can stop it? The famous Doctor. You can seal the breach?”  
“Leaving five million Cybermen stranded on my Earth.”  
“That's your problem. I'm protecting this world, and this world only.”  
“Hmm. Pete Tyler. I knew you when you were dead. Now here you are, fighting the fight alone. There is a chance, back on my world, Jackie Tyler might still be alive.”   
“My wife died.”  
The Doctor raised an eyebrow. “Her husband died. Good match.”  
“There's more important things at stake. Doctor, help us.”  
“What, close the breach? Stop the Cybermen? Defeat the Daleks? Do you believe I can do that?”  
“Yes.”  
He managed a smile. “Maybe that belief is all I need. Off we go, then!”   
And he activated the medallions again. 

They appeared in the Doctor’s version of Earth, in all it’s sparkling white glory. The Doctor led Pete towards Yvonne’s office.   
“First of all, I need to make a phone call. You don't mind?”   
Jake directed his men to the entrance to the lift corridor.   
“You two, guard the door.”  
The second Jackie answered the phone, she started babbling wildly.   
“Oh, my God, help me.”  
“Jackie, you're alive. Listen.”  
“They tried to download me but I ran away!”  
“Shush. Listen, tell me. Where are you?”   
“I don't know. Staircase.”  
The Doctor sighed. “Yeah, which one? Is there any sort of sign? Anything to identify it?”  
“Yes, a fire extinguisher.”  
“Yeah, that helps!” An eye roll, this time.   
“Oh, wait a minute. It says N3.” Jackie was barely able to get the words out around her hyperventilations.   
“North corner, staircase three. Just keep low, we're trying our best.”  
“No, don't leave me!”  
Hoping he sounded as apologetic as he felt, the Doctor ended the call.  
“I've got to go. I'm sorry.”   
He put the phone down, before turning to raise an eyebrow at Pete.   
“Jacqueline Andrea Suzette Tyler.”  
Pete shook his head. “She's not my wife.”  
“I was at the wedding. You got her name wrong.” Leaving him to digest this bit of information, the Doctor walked over to Jake and patted him on the shoulder.   
“Now then, Jakey boy, if I can open up the bonding chamber on this thing, it'll work on polycarbide.”   
Jake passed his gun over, pulling a face.   
“What's polycarbide?”  
“Skin of a Dalek.” 

Cybermen can’t be surprised, since surprise is an emotion and obviously they got rid of those a long time ago. But, if it could have experienced surprise, it probably would have at the sight at the end of the corridor. A piece of A4 paper, speared on an extendable pointer, waving slowly. A tousled head popped around the corner, grinning.   
“Sorry. No white flag. I only had a sheet of A4. Same difference.” The Doctor thought his handiwork was pretty impressive, really.   
The Cyberman asked. “Do you surrender?”   
“I surrender unto you... A very good idea.” 

The four Daleks disconnected their suckers from the Ark, and slid away.   
“Final stage of awakening.” One of the bronze Daleks announced.   
The black Dalek rotated it’s headpiece to look at Rose. “Your handprint will open the Ark.”   
She scoffed. “Well tough, because I'm not doing it.”   
“Obey or the male will die.”   
Blanching, she turned to look at Mickey and Eris.   
“I can't let them.”   
Mickey grabbed her hand. "Rose, don't.”  
Sensing that she was about to give in to their demands, the black Dalek spoke again.  
“Place your hand upon the casket.”   
“All right!” She snapped. “You're going to kill us anyway, so what the hell? If you escaped the Time War, don't you want to know what happened?”   
Eris’ eyes widened, and she tried to get her friend’s attention. What the hell was she doing?   
Rose carried on. “What happened to the Emperor?”   
There was a moment of silence. If they had believed that the Daleks were capable of emotions, they would almost have thought they were in shock.   
“The Emperor survived?”   
“Till he met me. Because if these are going to be my last words, then you're going to listen. I met the Emperor, and I took the Time Vortex and I pulled it into his head and turned him into dust. Do you get that? The God of all Daleks, and I destroyed him!”   
The black Dalek thundered. “You are fabricating this!”  
“Except she’s not.” Eris stepped forwards, once again using herself as a shield for the others. “I was there. And it’s not the first time I’ve seen you pathetic pepperpots get what you deserve.”   
“Explain!”   
“Skaro. Xeros. London. Spiridon. Aridius. Vulcan. Exxilon. Those names ringing any bells?”   
As Mickey and Rose watched her, confused, the Dalek pulled back.   
“Your knowledge is impossible! Identify!”   
Eris laughed, taking a step closer and squaring up.   
“Oh, me? I’m nobody. But there’s one more battle I could name. And one person who was there that should strike fear into your non-existent hearts!”   
“You will be exterminated!”  
“Oh now, hold on, wait a minute.” 

The trio of people whirled around on the spot to see the Doctor leaning against the doorframe, 3D glasses on and sonic screwdriver in hand. All four of the Daleks reversed.  
“Alert, alert. You are the Doctor.”  
“Sensors report he is unarmed.”  
He grinned, winking at his friends and feeling his hearts sink at the sight of the body on the floor.  
“That's me. Always.”   
“Then you are powerless.”  
“Not me. Never. How are you three?”   
Rose shrugged. “Oh, same old, you know.”   
Next to her, Eris made a so-so hand gesture. “Been better, been worse. It’s an average day, really.”  
The Doctor nodded. “Good. And Mickity McMickey. Nice to see you!”  
Mickey shot him a teasing salute. “And you, boss.”   
“Social interaction will cease!” Clearly, the Daleks didn’t appreciate the small talk. “How did you survive the Time War?”   
“By fighting. On the front line.” As the Doctor spoke, Rose and Mickey looked at him in surprise. They’d never heard him sound so cold before. Eris simply smiled sadly. She’d heard that tone from him before, during late nights in the library when neither had been able to sleep.  
“I was there at the fall of Arcadia. Someday I might even come to terms with that. But you lot ran away!”   
“We had to survive.”  
“The last four Daleks in existence. So what's so special about you?”   
Rose remembered an earlier discussion.  
“Doctor, they've got names. I mean, Daleks don't have names, do they? One of them said… oh, I can’t remember what it was exactly.”  
The bronze Daleks took their turns to introduce themselves.   
“I am Dalek Thay.”  
“Dalek Jast.”  
“Dalek Caan.”   
The black Dalek went last. “Dalek Sek.” 

Realisation crossed the Doctor’s features.   
“So that's it! At last. The Cult of Skaro. I thought you were just a legend.”   
“Who are they?” Rose frowned.   
“A secret order above and beyond the Emperor himself. Their job was to imagine, think as the enemy thinks. Even dared to have names. All to find new ways of killing.”   
Mickey pointed at the Ark. “But that thing, they said it was yours. I mean, Time Lords. They built it. What does it do?”  
The Doctor glanced over it.   
“I don't know. Never seen it before.”  
Eris raised an eyebrow. “But it definitely is Time Lord. I’m sure of it.”   
He shrugged. “Both sides had secrets. What is it? What have you done?” He directed the questions at the Daleks.   
“Time Lord science will restore Dalek supremacy.”  
“What does that mean? What sort of Time Lord science? What do you mean?”   
Rose crossed her arms. “They said one touch from a time traveller will wake it up.”  
He laughed. “Technology using the one thing a Dalek can't do. Touch.” Then, he started to approach them, walking around them in circles and taking great pleasure in their panicked eye movements.  
“Sealed inside your casing. Not feeling anything ever, from birth to death, locked inside a cold metal cage. Completely alone. That explains your voice. No wonder you scream.”   
All his talk was simply enraging them. “The Doctor will open the Ark!”   
“The Doctor will not!”  
“You have no way of resisting.”  
“Well, you got me there. Although there is always this.” He waved the sonic screwdriver.   
“A sonic probe?”  
Eris looked at the affronted look on the Doctor’s face. “That's screwdriver.”  
“It is harmless.”   
“Oh, yes. Harmless is just the word. That's why I like it. Doesn't kill, doesn't wound, doesn't maim. But I'll tell you what it does do. It is very good at opening doors.”   
He aimed it at the lab doors, and they exploded inwards, revealing Jake, a handful of his men, and a Cyberman!   
“Delete! Delete! Delete! Delete!”   
The firing started, and one of the Daleks was hit.   
“Alert. Casing impaired. Casing impaired.”   
The Doctor gestured towards the doors.   
“Get out!”   
Rose stumbled on the way and didn’t really register that the person who helped her off the floor was Pete Tyler.   
“Come on.”   
Mickey dived for his gun, putting himself right in the firing line, and Rose shouted.   
“Mickey, come on!”   
He was knocked into - whether it was by a Cyberman or a Dalek he couldn’t really tell - and put a hand out to steady himself. Feeling a harsh burning sensation, he realised that he’d touched the ark, and a pang of guilt rushed through him. He didn’t have long to dwell on it; Eris ran back for him and grabbed his arm, pulling him towards the doors. Once they were all out, the Doctor sealed the blast doors and led them off again.   
“Jake, check the stairwell. The rest of you, come on.”   
As they ran, Mickey started to apologise.   
“I just fell, I didn't mean it!”   
The Doctor grinned.   
“Mickey, without us, they'd have opened it by force. To do that, they'd have blown up the sun. You've done us a favour. Now, run!” 

Jackie found herself stuck between two pairs of Cybermen - one on the stairs above, and one on the stairs below. Seeing a door to her left, she ran through it, only to end up in front of another pair of the robots.   
“You will be upgraded.”  
She covered her eyes with her hands.   
“No, but you can't. Please.”   
There was a sudden fizzling sound as a weapon was discharged, and the Cybermen exploded, shot from behind. As the smoke cleared, Jackie’s jaw dropped.   
“Pete?”   
Her dead husband smiled. “Hello, Jacks.”   
Her voice became a whine.   
“I said there were ghosts, but that's not fair. Why him?”   
“I'm not a ghost.”  
“But you're dead. You died twenty years ago, Pete.”   
Behind Pete, the Doctor piped up.   
“It's Pete from a different universe. There are parallel worlds, Jackie. Every single decision we make creates a parallel existence, a different dimension where-”   
He hissed in pain as Eris stomped on his foot. She shot him a pointed look.   
“Be quiet!”   
Jackie agreed. “Oh, you can shut up. Oh, you look old.”   
Pete couldn’t take his eyes off her. “You don't.”  
“How can you be standing there?”   
“I just got lucky. Lived my life. You were left on your own. You didn't marry again, or…”  
She shrugged. “There was never anyone else. Twenty years, though. Look at me. I never left that flat. Did nothing with myself.”  
“You brought her up.” Pete jerked a thumb back at their daughter. “Rose Tyler. That's not bad.”   
“Yeah.”   
He sighed. “In my world, it worked. All those daft little plans of mine, they worked. Made me rich.”  
“I don't care about that.” And then, “How rich?”  
“Very.”   
“I don't care about that. How very?”  
There were scattered giggles from the group behind them; this was typical Jackie.   
Pete shuffled on the spot, looking a little awkward.  
“Thing is though, Jacks, you're not my wife. I'm sorry, but you're not…. I mean, we both - you know, it's just sort of-” And at the look on her face, he caved. “Oh, come here.”   
They ran for each other, textbook rom-com style, and held each other close for the first time in twenty years. Rose watched with tears brimming in her eyes and a wide smile, and she let Eris squeeze her tightly.   
Once the reunion was, for the moment, over, the Doctor explained what the next part of his plan was - and where they needed to go next. 

They reached the warehouse, and were crouched in a group outside the door. It was packed with Cybermen and Daleks, and the scene inside was nothing less than utter carnage. The few living soldiers in there had - sensibly - chosen to hide instead of taking them on for themselves. The Doctor edged the door open, and was about to crawl inside when Eris pulled him back.   
“What do you need?”   
“It’s fine, I can get there by myself.”   
“I’m smaller, faster, and less likely to die than you are. What do you need?”   
Relenting, he pointed out the pair of Magnaclamps he’d been eyeing, and a few seconds later Eris was in the room.   
The rest of the group watched in a mixture of awe and fear as Eris darted across the room, twisting and ducking swiftly to avoid every bolt. She grabbed the clamps and picked up the pace on the way back, springboarding a jump off the back of a Cyberman that collapsed in front of her and getting back to the door, passing the clamps through before wriggling to safety herself.   
The Doctor grinned. “You’re good at that.”   
She shrugged, wincing slightly. “Ah, it’s all fun really. Caught my shoulder though. Shame, I thought I was doing quite well.”   
“Let me see.” He tugged gently at the singed hole in her jumper, tutting sympathetically at the angry red weal beneath. “I guess you’ll live.”   
“Ha ha.” She wrinkled her nose at him, smiling.   
The voice of one of the Daleks drew their attention.   
“Override roof mechanism.”   
Above, the roof shutters started to slide back.   
“Elevate.”   
Rose frowned. “What're they doing? Why do they need to get outside?”  
The Doctor stared at the ark. “Time Lord science. What Time Lord science? What is it?”   
They watched for a moment as the Daleks soared up into the sky. 

Jumping to his feet, the Doctor started to lead them towards the closest staircase.   
“We've got to see what it's doing. We've got to go back up. Come on! All of you. top floor!”   
Jackie groaned.   
“That's forty five floors up! Believe me, I've done them all.”   
There was a ‘ding’ next to them, and Jake shot the others a cheesy smile.   
“We could always take the lift.”   
They reached Yvonne’s office just in time to watch the ark opening. The Doctor ran a hand through his hair as the ark spun, shooting out a neverending stream of Daleks in every direction.   
“Time Lord science. It's bigger on the inside.”   
Mickey glanced up at him.   
“Did the Time Lords put those Daleks in there? What for?”   
“It's a prison ship.”   
Eris gave up trying to count. “How many Daleks?”   
“Millions.”   
The Daleks spread out, taking the sky, as the Cybermen took control of the streets. 

Pete shook his head, an authoritative note creeping into his voice.   
“I'm sorry, but you've had it. This world's going to crash and burn. There's nothing we can do. We're going home.” He took a spare yellow medallion from a nearby soldier and held it out to Jackie.   
“Jacks, take this. You're coming with us.”   
“But they're destroying the city.”   
He laughed. “I'd forgotten you could argue. It's not just London, it's the whole world. But there's another world just waiting for you, Jacks. And it's safe as long as the Doctor closes the breach. Doctor?”   
The Doctor turned to face them, once again wearing the white papery 3D glasses he’d pulled out earlier. He looked ridiculous.   
“Oh, I'm ready. I've got the equipment right here. Thank you, Torchwood.” He pointed at the nearest computer terminal. “Slam it down and close off both universes.”   
Rose frowned. “But we can't just leave. What about the Daleks? And the Cybermen?”   
“They're part of the problem, and that makes them part of the solution. Oh yes! Well? Isn't anyone going to ask what is it with the glasses?”   
After a moment of confused quiet, Eris sighed.   
“Oh, fine. What is it with the glasses?”   
“I can see, that's what! Because we've got two separate worlds, but in between the two separate worlds, we've got the Void. That's where the Daleks were hiding. And the Cybermen travelled through the Void to get here. And you lot, one world to another, via the Void. Oh, I like that. Via the Void. Look.”   
He gave the glasses to Rose, and she put them on. Looking through them, she could see a cloud of oddly coloured speckles floating in the air around him.   
“I've been through it. Do you see?” He waved a hand.   
“What is it?”   
“Void stuff.”   
Eris piped up. “Sort of like background radiation.”   
“That's it. Rose, look at the others. And the only one who hasn't been through the Void, your mother. First time she's looked normal in her life.”   
Jackie huffed. “Oi.”   
Ignoring her, the Doctor continued.   
“But the Daleks lived inside the Void. They're bristling with it. Cybermen, all of them. I just open the Void and reverse. The Void stuff gets sucked back inside-”  
“Pulling them all in!” Rose grinned, realising.   
“Pulling them all in!”   
Mickey interrupted. “Sorry, what's the Void?”   
A smirk carpet across Eris’ face.   
“The dead space. Some people call it Hell.”   
“So you two are sending the Daleks and Cybermen to Hell.” He turned to Jake. “Man, I told you he was good.”  
Something had occurred to Rose.   
“But it's like you said. We've all got Void stuff. Me too, because we went to that parallel world. We're all contaminated. We'll get pulled in.”   
The Doctor’s face dropped a little.   
“That's why you've got to go.” 

Rose stood there, stunned, as he continued.  
“Back to Pete's world. Hey, we should call it that. Pete's World. I'm opening the Void, but only on this side. You'll be safe on that side.”   
Pete thought for a second.   
“And then you close it, for good?”   
“The breach itself is soaked in Void stuff. In the end it'll close itself. And that's it. Kaput.”   
She shook her head. “But you stay on this side?”   
Mickey looked alarmed. “But you'll get pulled in.”   
“That's why I got these.” The Doctor nodded towards the Magnaclamps. “I'll just have to hold on tight. I've been doing it all my life.”   
Rose still wasn’t happy. “I'm supposed to go.”  
“Yeah.”  
“To another world, and then it gets sealed off.”  
“Yeah.”  
“Forever. That's not going to happen. Eris, back me up here! What if you came with me? Because then we could find a way back here together!”  
Eris shook her head sadly.   
“I’m sorry Rose, but I can’t. I’m an odd point in time, an anomaly. It could take months for us to find a way back, maybe even years. Me being in the parallel universe for just a few days would destroy the time stream. I’m a fixed event - I just can’t do it. I’m sorry.”   
The building shook around them, and Pete made up his mind.   
“We haven't got time to argue. The plan works. We're going. You too. All of us.”   
“No, I'm not leaving here.”   
Jackie crossed her arms. “I'm not going without her.”  
Pete threw his hands up. “Oh, my God. We're going!”  
“I've had twenty years without you, so button it. I'm not leaving her.”  
Rose held her mum’s hand, holding back tears. “You've got to.”  
“Well, that's tough.”   
“Mum. I've had a life with you for nineteen years, but then I met the Doctor and Eris, and all the things I've seen them do for me, for you, for all of us. For the whole stupid planet and every planet out there.” While she was talking, Eris sidled her way to stand next to her dad and tapped against his pocket. Remembering that he’d put the medallion he’d been given in there earlier, he took it out. “They do it, mum, and they never ask for any thanks or reward. But not anymore, because I’m there to show them that they deserve to be praised.”  
She flinched as a medallion suddenly settled around her neck, and Pete raised a hand to activate them.   
“What're you-”   
And then they were gone. 

The group appeared in the parallel version of Torchwood, stumbling a little in the dark as they tried to get their footing amongst the rubble. They had materialised there in the same formation as they had been in the other world, and Rose was slightly distanced from the others. Out of arms reach. She made up her mind.   
“Oh no, you don't. He's not doing that to me again.”  
Hoping it would work, she slammed a hand down on the yellow medallion button. 

And she appeared in the lever room again.  
“I think this is the on switch.”   
The Doctor turned to look at her, fuming.   
“Once the breach collapses, that's it. You will never be able to see her again. Your own mother!”   
She shrugged. “I made my choice a long time ago, and I'm never going to leave you. So what can I do to help?”   
The computer made an announcement as Eris unpicked a few wires in the blocks.  
“Systems rebooted. Open access.”   
Unable to make eye contact, the Doctor pointed her to the computer desk.   
“Those coordinates over there, set them all at six. And hurry up.”   
Taking the medallion off from around her neck and laying it on the nearest desk, Rose checked the security monitor and swore.   
“We've got Cybermen on the way up.”   
“How many floors down?” Eris looked up from the lever mechanism, frowning.   
“Just one.” 

“Levers operational.”   
The Doctor grinned as the computer told him what he wanted to hear, and Rose mirrored him.  
“That's more like it. Bit of a smile. The old team.”   
He raised an eyebrow, unable to stay angry with her for long. “The three amigos. The three musketeers!”   
Eris scoffed. “The three stooges, more like.”   
The trio shared a wild smile, before the Doctor grabbed one of the Magnaclamps and directed them to the opposite wall.   
“Press the red button. When it starts, just hold on tight, both of you. Shouldn't be too bad for us but the Daleks and the Cybermen are steeped in Void stuff. Are you ready?”   
Rose nodded at the window.   
“So are they.”   
The Daleks were visible.   
Eris activated the clamp.   
“Let's do it!”   
As Rose took the clamp, Eris and the Doctor pushed the levers into position and ran back to the walls, Eris making sure she was closest to the Void wall - just to keep Rose a little bit safer.   
The computer vocalised, “Online.” and a bright white light came out from the breach, accompanied by the fiercest winds they’d ever felt. A nearby window shattered as a stream of Daleks flew through, sucked into the dead space. And then came the Cybermen, joining the steady flow of robots as every last one of them flew towards their doom. Grinning at each other from across the room, the trio couldn’t help but feel elated. They had done it. 

The lever on the girls’ side of the room started to slip back, and the computer chimed emotionlessly.   
“Offline.”   
Thinking quickly, Eris adjusted her grip on the clamp and let go with one hand, reaching out to pull the lever back into position. She struggled against it, aware of the hand on the clamp weakening a little but trying to ignore it. Rose reached out, grabbing onto Eris’ left shoulder and pulled, giving her a bit more stability and helping her get back to the clamp.   
“Online and locked.”   
They both grinned, before panicking a little as the suction from the Void increased sharply. On the opposite side of the room, the Doctor called out to them.   
“Rose, hold on! Eris, don’t let go!”   
Too late. The suction was too great, and Rose found herself being pulled away from the clamp, her fingers struggling for purchase against the material of Eris’ jacket before losing grip entirely. Eris’ grip was weakened too, and a knock from Rose as she was sucked towards the Void dislodged her hands, and she started to go the same way. The Doctor could do nothing but watch.   
Rose was mere metres away from the opening to the Void when there was a flash of light behind her, and Pete appeared. He caught her, arms wrapped firmly around her stomach, and shot the Doctor a nod before vanishing again. The wind from the Void died down, and the wall appeared to ripple, and crumple, before sealing off completely. The Doctor let go of the clamp, breathing shakily as he ran to check on the slumped heap of his daughter. She’d been thrown to the floor less than ten metres from the wall - it had been a close one. As he got there, he realised that she wasn’t actually unconscious, as he’d first assumed. She was hunched, arms wrapped tightly around her knees. And she was crying. Very gently, he pulled her up to lean against his side, worrying over the trail of blood working its way down the left side of her face. Holding her tight, he stared blankly up at the wall in front of them. The computer was the only thing to interrupt them.   
“Systems closed.” 

It had been almost five months. Five months in a parallel universe, and Rose still didn’t feel at home there. She missed her friends, and she missed the life that they’d shared. Her family did their best to understand, and they were incredibly supportive, but she knew that they would never really know just how much the wanderers meant to her. But she was trying now, actively making an effort to adjust to normal life again. It’s what they would have wanted for her. 

Then, she had the dream. When she woke, she couldn’t really remember what it had been about, but one thing stuck out in her mind.   
“Rose.”  
She had heard the Doctor. Waking up the others, she’d explained everything to them. Anyone else would have dismissed her ideas as being just a dream, and told her to go back to bed. But not the Tyler family. They knew their daughter’s friends far too well to take it as anything other than a message. And it was a message they planned to follow. It took a lot of driving; they crossed into Europe and travelled through miles and miles of countryside, crossing border after border until they ended up where they needed to be.   
A beach in Norway. Not the most typical of meeting places, but she didn’t care. Rose left Mickey and her parents standing by the car, and walked until she felt like she needed to stop. And she waited. 

It didn’t take long. A fuzzy, translucent image of the Doctor appeared - he looked exhausted, but overjoyed to see her.   
“Where are you?” She managed to croak out.   
“Inside the Tardis. There's one tiny little gap in the Universe left, just about to close, and it takes a lot of power to send this projection. I'm in orbit around a supernova. We’re burning up a sun just to say goodbye.”   
There was a slight static crackle, and Eris appeared next to the Doctor. Even in the faint projection, her eyes looked red.   
Rose sniffled. “You look like ghosts.”   
“Hold on.”   
She laughed as Eris dipped a hand into the Doctor’s pocket - ignoring his sound of protest - and directed it at the console. It took a moment, but her friends suddenly looked far more solid than they had done. If she hadn’t known better, she would have thought they were actually there. She stepped forwards, reaching a hand out to the Doctor.   
“Can I?”  
He shook his head sadly. “I'm still just an image. No touch.”   
“Can't you come through properly?”   
“The whole thing would fracture. Two universes would collapse.”   
She laughed, half joking. “So?”   
Eris glanced at the cold-looking beach around them.   
“Where are we? Where did the gap come out?”   
“We're in Norway.”   
“Norway. I thought so, it has that kind of vibe. It’s been a while since I was here, though. Where are we exactly?”   
“About fifty miles out of Bergen. It's called 'Dårlig Ulv Stranden'.”   
The Doctor looked like he’d just been shot.  
“Dalek?!”   
Rose laughed, half at his reaction and half at the eye roll from Eris.  
“Dårlig. It's Norwegian for bad. This translates as Bad Wolf Bay. How long have we got?”  
His face dropped a little. “About two minutes.”   
There was an awkward pause.   
“I can't think of what to say!”   
He grinned. “You've still got Mr Mickey, then?”  
“Yeah. There's five of us now. Mum, Dad, Mickey and the baby.”   
Eris’ eyes were so wide that they looked like they were about to pop out of her head.   
“You're not?”  
“No! No. It's mum. She's three months gone. More Tylers on the way.”   
The two girls giggled, imagining another tiny Tyler causing chaos.   
Smiling, the Doctor remembered that they had very little time left, and kept talking.   
“And what about you? Are you…”  
“Yeah, I'm back working in the shop.”   
He was surprised, but tried not to show it - naturally, he did a terrible job.  
“Oh, good for you.”  
“Shut up. No, I'm not. There's still a Torchwood on this planet. It's open for business now. I think I know a thing or two about aliens.”   
He looked down at her fondly, trying to commit every feature of her face to memory.   
“Rose Tyler, Defender of the Earth. You're dead, officially, back home. So many people died that day and you've gone missing. You're on a list of the dead. Here you are, living a life day after day. The one adventure I can never have.”   
Her voice was cracking now.   
“Am I ever going to see you again?”   
“You can't.”  
“What're you going to do?”  
“Oh, we've got the Tardis. Same old life, last of the Time Lords and a thorn in the universe’s side.”   
Eris jabbed him in the ribs. “Oi!”   
Rose couldn’t bring herself to smile this time.   
“Just the two of you. Without anyone else to help in a sticky situation?”   
Their silence said it all.   
Taking a deep breath, she worked up the courage to say what she’d wanted to say for so long.  
“I love you, both of you. So much.”   
Biting back a sob, Eris made herself smile.   
“You think I didn’t already know? Oh Rose, you mean the universe to us. To me. You always have done.”   
The Doctor nodded.   
“Quite right, too. And I suppose, if it's one last chance to say it, Rose Tyler-”   
But before he could finish, the hologram cut out, and Rose was left sobbing on an empty beach. 

The Tardis was silent. The Doctor stood, frozen, with tears streaming down his cheeks. He was faintly aware of the weight of Eris’ head against his shoulder, and the pressure of her hand squeezing his arm. But everything else seemed to fade - it was like he was trapped inside a bubble of emotion, and nothing else mattered. He didn’t really register the sound of footsteps in the console room until Eris stiffened noticeably, before turning on the spot.   
“Dad.”   
He looked up, and got a proper shock. There was a woman in the Tardis.   
She was fairly tall, with gorgeous ginger hair, and she was wearing a long white gown and a veil. She was facing the doors.   
“What?” He gasped.   
The woman turned, “Oh!”   
“What?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hopefully the gap between the end of this book and me posting the first chapter of book 3 won't be too long. But I can't make any promises - busy being a medical student, and all that. I'll do my best! 
> 
> Keep your eyes peeled for the third installment - I think you're going to love it. 
> 
> See you soon, dear Reader!  
> Love, Azzie xx


End file.
